I Don't Want To Be Your Fool
by SuckstoLoveRed
Summary: Marceline Abadeer – an esteemed mix of an honor student and a lazy ass – creates a blog under an anonymous guise with the thought that she could probably be able to speak her mind (and be openly angry about, well, everything going on), or at least reblog things that she found funny or relatable. Things don't quite go according to plan.
1. Falling into a Tumblr Mess

CHAPTER 1 – "Wait? Who the fuck even likes Tumblr anymore?"

"Okay, the URL was hard enough… Why do I put myself through this…" she muttered to herself, typing _suckstolovered_ to be added to the wretched platform, tumblr-dot-com.

Marceline held her breath as she tried to customize the settings of the new space she has created for herself on the internet. It became quite a dilemma for her to choose whether to go for an aesthetic theme or to go with the silly minimalistic substandard ones that Tumblr had to offer. Resigning, she decides to go to a blog that was dedicated to _making_ cool themes. When you play, you've got to hit hard or you go home, right?

Everything seemed to be going in some fancy order. Her about page was looking great, too… or, well, somehow giving enough information, yet not being overtly so?

Blog title: i don't wanna be your fool

Blog description: "and i don't only want to love you i want something that i can't replace."

ABOUT PAGE:

 _I write stuff, but don't tell the next guy._

Feeling a bit content with the appearance of her new creation, she proceeded to follow some familiar people; that part is problematic enough as it goes but she thought that _as long as nobody knew it was her, they wouldn't follow back_.

She followed one blog which she knew would be totally into a run of the gossip mill in school – those ones by Lianne Spencer. What do you call them? Those "Secret Files" blogs? Whatever. She knew that Lianne would be too popular to even care about following back.

Soon enough, the night _did_ pass on – she was following a bunch of blogs about animals, and all those blogs by millennials whose humor pretty much relied on self-deprecation and some sort of semi-ironic hatred towards life.

Thus, began her first post:

 _i might be a little teapot;_

 _im not short but I SHOUT at literally any moment i can_

TAGS: _#how do you even do this tumblr thing? #well #life #just #this is me right now in #college_

 _#is this how this works?_

She suddenly she got a follower: _bubblegumbites_.

It was from that smart girl, Bonnibel. She didn't really pay notice of it, and just followed back. Maybe if she didn't mind— until the first reblog.

REBLOG FROM _bubblegumbites_

Once she came to inspect Bonnie's blog, though, she didn't quite understand what to feel – though she did roll her eyes at the thought that it could be as she appeared to be (prissy and prim), but no, it was a lot different than the image of her would have allowed. The political part of Bonnibel did show, though.

BLOG TITLE: "Blades are for skating – ya dingus"

DESCRIPTION: Bonnie B. | 19 | I'm probably made of candy

She posted a lot of angry bullcrap; she even added some commentary on things – like, dude, you'd see her be controlling a herd of people with one post. The scary part is, it's the believable and convincing "I did my research" sort of thing. At least she posted memes though. That's… always a plus. That's what Marceline assumed, at least.

There weren't any additional comments from her, but soon enough, she noticed that more and more people went on to reblogging that _very first post._ She was starting to think that maybe her life was meant to for this moment – for this one viral joke.

 _imalittleteapot_ started following _suckstolovered_

Well, that follower is close to expected.

 _pussy-loverxxx_ started following _suckstolovered_

Well, uh. Yikes. She already supposed that porn blogs did that; she assumed that much.

Several other blogs followed her. Over one post? Surprisingly, Tumblr seemed to have begun well for her. Relatively.

 _jakethestretchyyellowdo-g_ started following _suckstolovered_

Or not.

"What, wait, is this Jake?" Marceline cursed.

As she clicked on the URL (and as it loaded the page at a speed she wished at that moment ran a little more slowly). The blog was cute, so to say… but it didn't make her feel any better knowing that _some of the more popular kids in school are following her and she has really_ _ **no plans**_ _on ever talking to them._ _ **Ever.**_

URL: _jakethestretchyyellowdo-g_

BLOG TITLE: i partied with God once; he was chill

DESCRIPTION: jake / you gotta learn to chill / 19 y/o | Male

Suffice to say, he reblogged Marceline's post adding: _same_ with a gif of some… uncomfortable looking Lego.

His blog was overrun with health tips, "swag," whiz kid quotes, and selfies of him and his girlfriend, Sae Na. Who apparently also has a Tumblr blog—

 _koreaisnotmadeofkimchi_ started following _suckstolovered_

"Fuck, fuck; fuckity fuck." Marceline muttered. "Speak of the devil." She decided to skip on snooping in on that one.

It should not have made as much of a big deal with Marceline. Really, it shouldn't. Well, it's not like these people make her college block life a living hell— Bonnie and her group, to be fair, did not really pay her any mind. Jake's crowd though, can be quite… unwanted.

 _knightinfurrybearcap_ started following _suckstollovered_

Marceline groaned as she saw _Finn_ following her. Who else could be the goddamn knight in a _furry bear cap?_ Jesus Christ, he called himself that when he was fawning over Bonnie; Marceline cringes to this day. Imagine him claiming that title when they were still in high school. _Oh, Bonnie, I'll always be your knight._ Blegh.

URL: _knightinfurrybearcap_

BLOG TITLE: Mathematical!

His blog was genuinely filled with happy things, and pretty girls… and Marceline was almost not surprised. Still surprising though, were some personal posts. Marceline didn't want to pry, so in respect seeing this, she followed him back.

Marceline, after exhausting all the energy she had in overthinking, decided to start posting some dumb memes, anyway. And overall, it wasn't that bad of a start to an anonymous blog. Heck, it might even be a little fun to watch them post about their drama. People still do that, right?

-/-/-/-

After being on Tumblr for quite some time, her eyes decided to droop a little bit. Before she could come close to snoozing, though, her phone pinged as she received an email from her dean. Perfect.

FROM: Linus Rae Lim

TO: Marceline Everett Abadeer

"Miss Abadeer,

Several exams of yours remain to be the top within your batch of students; why does it appear, though, that you refuse to acknowledge the potential that you have in performing well within the house of the academe? You refuse to perform well in any other avenue, thus expressing a subpar result.

Teachers have been left with questions of whether these results are valid, as you either rarely attend their classes or altogether show an extreme distaste towards the subjects of which they teach. Despite Sir Petrikov's appeal that you indeed excel without the aid of anything unacceptable, his power as the superintendent cannot always hold reign in the delivery of your results. This is college now; if you refuse to move through the crowd in this manner, the idea of giving your degree is close to dissipating from reality. We do not want to squander what opportunity you have.

Please greet your father for me; and, for the love of God, try to abide by a behavior that is more wholesome and, shall I say this: _acceptable._ Your father will be sent the results for the quarter before the end, as per his request. We do not want to fail him – and clearly, we know you don't want to, as well.

Sincerely,

Mr. Linus Rae Lim, MACT, Ph.D.  
Dean of the Department of Humanities  
University of Scarborough"

Before Marceline could even think of a reply, she just snapped off the phone and took to ranting on Tumblr — ah, yes, the very reason for her starting this thing.

TITLE: a lane under subpar excellence

"I believe that performing well, so to say, is relative. By which, the narrative I'd like to denounce is the narrative of which I have to engage myself within a standardized education which I am offered on a daily.

It is quite embarrassing, really, as though I am supposedly a craft in the making, I like to dumb myself down to refute any form of expectations. Why? Because it is easy. And that is its own problem which I'd like to assess in a different time. Right now, though, I'd like to revel in the idea that I am better off than what my peers would assert me as.

Then, I'd like to begin a query on whether to submit, or bathe in the glory of this pride of what they might not necessarily be able to attain.

Oh, the life of the vapid can sometimes be something to relish in, isn't it?"

TAGS: _#college life #i don't wanna be your fool #i am my own fool #university of scarborough #anonymity is key_

Upon posting, she saw that Bonnibel had reblogged it…

Then came the first message she'd ever get on Tumblr.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _I don't know much about your experience in my university (but I suppose we're from the same university, as your tags put it in there); but I guess I'd like to agree on some points. Though— really, where is the proper alternative that can derail standardized education? Like… you seem well thought out. I thought I'd just be seeing a new shitpost blog but… I guess this new blog might be worth more attention._

 _But hey, I hope to be friends— since you seem new here. Hopefully you're not a spam bot. I'm just bored, and it appears none of my friends are online._

 _Anyway. Hi, I'm Bonnie. What's your name?"_

Oh boy… It definitely will be a ride for Marceline, won't it?

-/-/-/-

PSA/Author's Note: The blog is real. You can check it out ;)


	2. School Insider

CHAPTER 2 – School Insider

Marceline heaved in a little air with as much as she could, and she wheezed it out in increments as the little hollow of pain came to follow. Anxiety at its best, y'know? Her lungs weren't exactly feeling up to par to actually function. But really, she mulled it over in her head: Bonnie didn't know that _Marceline_ goddamn _Abadeer_ is the one running the cheap ass blog. For fucks sake, she didn't even think that Bonnibel even knew that she existed (anymore… at least).

Bonnibel, Bonnibel, Bonnibel. Where do we begin with her? Oh, Marceline would be thrilled to point out that they'd known each other since Pre-K. But if anything, Bonnibel probably thought that she was just some punkass deadbeat who only existed through every line of pretense and excuse possible. Bonnibel Park would probably have been one of those "I'm way too good for you" people (because, well, she just gave off that aura), and if her high school years gave any indication of any possible tangent by which they could have intersected with, it probably would have shown up sometime sooner. Sadly, every other interaction that they could have had faltered, and every direction of hers headed that way turned to another.

She resigned to her _current_ fate, though… But she won't give in just yet.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_

"Hey.

I won't be able to entertain your question as to who I am, exactly. For now, though, you can call me… Red. Yeah, Red, the Anonymous Scarborough Student. I'm new here on Tumblr to fill in the new Red propaganda (and no, I don't mean it in a "Soviet Union meets China" red flag way, I just mean… y'know, painting the streets red and all that crud).

Nice to meet you, Bonnie."

And with that, she sent the message… and she allowed herself to breathe again.

That was a fair cover-up. Marceline just put forward a _cool_ alias.

Yeah, totally "cool," if 1) she didn't take that out of a playable Pokémon trainer/character and 2) if it wasn't just a freaking color. (At least it's her favorite, right?)

Came the response from Bonnie, a few minutes later.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _All is well with that, Red. Mysterious. Haha._

 _Though, I gotta hit the hay now. School will come down on me and I'm not prepared to deal with it without at least four hours of sleep. Have you heard the recent news on the Social Sciences Dept. putting a rally against the foundations of the Humanities Dept.? Given that it's all new information, the school is keeping it hush hush. But I feel that it'll all turn up later on… I bet around 8AM tomorrow, once the petitions on merge and budget cuts come in. More details that we can discuss on later on?_

 _Sorry, I just have so many feelings about this._

 _Goodnight._

\- _Bonnie."_

Marceline's brow furrowed. There were no news from the department's board on Facebook page, and none of the arts students really got any notice on them, so there wasn't really any reasonable answer as to why a _science_ major would grab hold of such information. Unless the department heads are only keeping it within the student body chancellors. At any case, Marceline was itching with unease.

She shut off her laptop and decided to catch some sleep.

-/-/-/-

Monday rolled into the day before Marceline bothered to care.

 _"_ _August 28, 2017 – 7:13AM"_ the digital clock read.

Closing her eyes to get that two extra minutes in, she decided to catch what was left of the peace of her overly driven brain, before the beeping alarm rang in decibels that she decided were enough of an interruption. She decided that the rotation of the day was to begin, and that the hell of the cycle would happen full circle – the silence of the classes passing through, some weed with a couple of friends, more class, and then off to her bed will welcome her home. That is all that mattered. Seriously. Every other litany of the daily rituals need not to be mentioned.

"Marceline," Hunson greeted, smiling. "Breakfast is ready."

She smiled up at him, but remained quiet as her thought process tried to focus on the food that her father had readily prepared for her. She knew there was always the lingering sadness along the creases of her father's features. Was it from the stemming disappointment that will probably pervade and hover over the rest of her life? She wasn't sure. She didn't want to ask. She picked on her food as she let her thoughts sink her in. She wasn't ready for any sort of confrontation on that area. As she ate, though, Hunson began to show a more sincere smile.

"There you go… Keep eating healthily. It'll help pack up some meat into that skinniness." He laughed.

Marceline nodded absently, giving him a sign of which indicating her favor towards the food she was given, as she got up to brush her teeth and leave. Once inside the bathroom, she huffed over the image facing her. Her father's voice hailed and echoed in the halls:

"Marcy, I'm heading off to work now. Take care! Remember, daddy loves his little monster."

Cringing, she felt for that split second the hesitation in going to school at all. She wasn't feeling it. Bonnibel's "report" on what was going on didn't sit well in her stomach. Oh well.

-/-/-/-

"This university is going to kill me if they won't even bother to at least supply us with some decent art materials…"

Keila loudly complained through the drive. Once Marceline picked her up from the curb where the other girl's house stood. There would never be a day where she would stop pratting about the university's failure to deliver even the most simple of the amenities – to the Humanities department, at least. The other departments were kept swanky and up to date.

"Well, Keila, sweetie, I'd have you know that we have been killed decades ago," Marceline laughed. "If we're going to be any more displaced from the plane of existence, we'd be meta-dead."

"That's actually a cool band name… Meta-Dead. Or the Meta-Deaths."

"I like to deliver only the best of rugged edgy band names."

Keila looked over to the driver's seat, probably preparing to launch a greater tirade of anger at the once semi-forgotten topic, but the institution of which she was complaining about popped into view. Looking defeated, she sighed and sunk into the seat.

"Well… nothing much we can do about it, I guess." Keila muttered. "I don't know how I'm supposed to finish my degree here. The department hardly any support from the board. We're supposed to be the state university, but we aren't… ugh."

"We can't really challenge them that way," came Marceline's reply. "I'm almost certain that something bad is already happening." She would have mentioned what Bonnibel had said. She kept it though; no point bringing up something that hasn't been openly announced. Everything was already in a disarray, though, as they headed off into their building. Voices were heard, one that was shouting a little bit too loudly than should be for a college setting, and another one trying to level their voice to be at least heard above the raging man.

"That is all bullshit," A male voice – Grey's – thundered. "We barely get enough shit, but now there is this… petition? For what? Reducing electives? Throwing us back into larger groups in small classrooms? Elaborate all this shit, carrot top."

Grey was showing intense disdain over some post on the bulletin board, and was picking a fight with someone… It only took a little time for Marceline to register what was going on, though. She was partly guilty over having third-hand knowledge on something she couldn't spread earlier— but alas, it was but a notion of forfeiture.

"Look, Grey, I don't know what's going on… I just," the girl said.

"You just what? What's a social sciences major doing to parade out some _petition_ that obviously indicates cutting down unless we cough up money _which we already don't have_ as arts students—" Grey was going to explode at a bigger scale any minute now.

"Look. I don't give a fucking damn about what the hell is going on, but I'm just tasked to deliver this petition to your department. The superintendent already deliberated about this in a panel and I'm just a delivery person. Capische?" And she turned down to the hallway, heading off to Lim's office.

Keila groaned, and Grey proceeded to kicking and bashing on the board. Marceline opted to move away from the scene and to quickly catch up with the red-headed girl. Didn't take too long to catch up, though. She just reached her a bit after the girl was leaving Lim's office.

"Hey... I'm sorry about Grey," Marceline said, as she tapped the girl's shoulder. "Can I ask more about the thing though? In a much less aggressive way of doing so, obviously."

The girl pinched the bridge of her nose. She breathed in and exhaled what tremendous amount stress she probably had.

"Yeah… Sure, let's talk about it. Though, be warned, I don't know as much as the other chancellors do. My name is Phoebe, by the way. What's yours?" she gestured to sit.

"Marceline." She said, probably caring less about the formalities than the petition, really.

"Well… The board of directors brought into the panel a possible cut off out of the Humanities department. Mostly on the performing arts section—"

At that, Marceline flinched.

"—and I'm not really sure of much of the details, but the board supposedly with distribute whatever portion of the cut into other fields. More money to fund researches and stuff that targets behavioral schemes and more strictly-science and or surveying proposals. The social sciences board pitched in for it and now have the credit, despite the fact that it's more of an agreement that was deliberated throughout all the sectors. Except the Humanities department… and you'd know why."

Before Marceline could bring more thoughts into the discussion, another redhead came to view: Bonnibel Park.

"Phoebe, were you able to distribute the class redistribution? We have to fix things before the school starts to kick full gear and— oh, hello… Uh, Marceline, is it?" Bonnie said, as she switched her gaze from the lower chancellor to the arts student. "You're the trouble student."

"Yeah, I'm only the worst." Marceline quipped. "Totally why I belong in one of the _finest_ universities in Scarborough, and what more for the _best_ department there is to offer."

"Whatever," the Chancellor Prime Minister said, dismissing Marceline's remark. She turned back though… A little more sympathetic. "I don't like the budget cuts and other fickle activities they're doing. I would have taken an arts elective, but they're also limiting the activities that other departments can take in relation to yours."

Marceline looked at her, unsure of what to say. It was always easier to articulate things some other way. At that moment, she was both amazed at what the girl had said (how often was it that someone would actually express concern over the humanities department? Rarely), and she allowed herself a little bit of the crush she had back in Pre-K to creep back—

"Well, Marceline, just don't trip up. And please attend your classes. Your files are piling up again." Bonnie said, leaving the dumbstruck girl again.

Or maybe not. No return of Kindergarten Girlfriend feelings again, please.

-/-/-/-

Marceline sat by the corner store nearby her father's office. Keila and Grey decided to smoke weed way by the outskirts of town, and though that sounded like a blast, she didn't feel like participating on what was once their holy ritual. It only came to her that it was mostly dull and repetitive. As much as her life is already one boring, she wanted to bring spontaneity out of it. So… corner store. Yeah. And it was going great. Woop.

Before Marceline could decide that it was utterly pointless to stick around the side of some store, drinking strawberry milk, with no idea what to do, Finn Mertens walked in with latest love interest, who appeared to be the lower Chancellor, Phoebe.

"Scarborough uni is going through some shit changes…" The redhead noted.

"What? Who even cares what happens to the Humanities department? Anyone can paint, anyone can learn to play some silly instrument…" Finn's voice rang.

Marceline's gut wrenched at the words. Finn should've cared more… Finn was a good guy. She thought at least he would've been able to understand. It was a good thing Grey wasn't there else shit would've popped up.

"Finn… I don't know… Some arts student tried to rip my throat out over it—"

"Phoebe, it just goes to show that these arts students are just willy nillies who are probably crazy and junk. I mean, there's that one painter that cut his ear off, right? It's a sign. Arts isn't half as good as someone would think… We all can just wing it…"

"Jake would've been hard on you for that. His girlfriend is an arts student." Phoebe almost hissed.

Finn looked embarrassed, but noted anyway, "I'm not an artsy person. I can't defend something I don't understand. That's why I'm a sports track major."

Phoebe fell silent, and Marceline retreated and moved to reach her father's office, before either of them could see her.

She had something ready to write. Might as well get started on it, right?

-/-/-/-

PSA/Author's Note: The post Marcy writes is on the Tumblr Blog, suckstolovered!


	3. Elective Change

CHAPTER 3 – Elective Change

 _Ring, ring, ring!_

The alarm read: _September 4, 2017 - 7:15AM_

Much of muchness, for the first time in a while, Marceline only woke up at the ring of the clock, her head groggy with the thought of starting again with the formalities of class. She got to check her shitpost-filled Tumblr blog with not much to see, really; what few rants she had on the University remained untouched with no notes to be seen. A part of her felt rather relieved that there wasn't anyone who noticed, yet there was also that lingering feeling of being incensed and feeling the waste in merely calling out in the void. Nonetheless, Marceline kept it along to herself. No point, really.

Despite the lack of notifications on her posts, Bonnibel had been sending messages to "Red." It went on like that about her complaints of the dreary life of being the Chancellor Prime Minister (oh, what a prestigious burden), and though Marceline didn't really reveal much, she begrudgingly (albeit fondly) responded to the messages. As she got up to reblog another meme, and at the moment she posted, Bonnibel came around to send her another message. Marceline started to warm up to the idea that she had a friend… while the friend, in turn, didn't really know anything about her other than tidbits she shared about herself that no one else really knew. But it was still the first stage of formalities; she knew better than to get any way closer, past the rigid small talk and into daily life expectations.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _Hey, Red._

 _Today is the beginning of classes, and I'm not quite excited to go. They'll be posting the accepted electives today, btw. Since this fiasco with this kid named Grey (he's a humanities student – he's a Music Major, I think. Majoring in Piano – if you don't know him) the board decided to be a bit tight lipped about any other things about the petition (especially regarding what courses are available). I'm not sure of what electives to take, but hopefully they get to bring out an elective that I'd like. I'm hoping to take one from the Humanities Department and the Social Sciences Department… though I fear for the life of me what could really happen._

 _Have a good day at class! I mean, if you have any enrolled for this time, this semester. Maybe I'll even see you in one of them. ;) Well… If I knew who you were, really. There are only so many chances._

\- _Bonnie."_

Marceline smiled, seeing that Bonnie even wanted to initiate a conversation _nicely_. Not what she'd expect. She was beginning to feel a pang of guilt for the whole affair, but still.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_

"Hey, Bonnie.

I heard about that, actually. And yeah, perhaps I'll see you in my class. No promises though, but you're not exactly that hard to find, being popular and all. You can tell me any other things you'd have to do, if you want. And I'll hit you up on stuff, too. If you want.

Have a good day, okay?

\- Red"

Bonnibel replied minutes after seeing the message:

 _"_ _Hahaha; I'm slightly sad that you know me but I don't know you, but we'll see._

 _And I will. I hope._ _"_

\- _Bonnie."_

-/-/-/-

Marceline proceeded to move about with a smile on her face, even as she went down to face her father. It was probably a strange highlight to the usual moodiness, but for once she was actually looking forward to the day, if the interaction with Bonnie made for anything.

"Oh, look who's in a good mood today!" Hunson greeted, smiling a bit too widely, obviously appreciating the rarity – he was seated, eating some sort of mix of fruits and oatmeal. The picture of monotony did not stop the positive pitch in his voice.

Despite her father's well-meaning remark, her smile dropped for a second as she remembered that it was still a secret, and that her own name was a secret to the person she was pretty much fawning over online. Nonetheless, she put it back up, anyway.

"I'm just excited to fill in my classes properly – and to possibly get more into a good elective. Manual registration and all that." Marceline sang, getting some cereals for herself.

Hunson hummed as he ate his meal, obviously in a good mood, too.

"What about you?" Marceline prompted. "You're also a bit up in cloud nine today."

He looked up and grinned. "Well, I'm just happy that my little monster is in a good mood, and that her initiative to study is kicking up," he said, teasing… and he paused for the next statement. "The firm is doing really well, too. A lot of new clients, and most of them putting against an accused – it's a lot easier to be vindictive when you feel like you're supporting a side you feel is right. The prosecutors are nice, as well."

Marceline nodded. She knew what he meant; she didn't know how to feel about the fact that her father is a little bit on the partial side, but she knew the feeling… She didn't want to feel that she was siding up for the wrong client, if she was to be a lawyer or prosecutor. Her judgement was still settling on the fact that an unbiased opinion would've been required but she held her tongue. Her father was too altruistic for things, sometimes. Didn't stop him from being good at his job, though.

Hunson dropped his dishes by the sink and got ready before he headed off to work, waving cheerfully at Marceline as she fumbled and wondered over the day. Her thoughts were flying again. But she had no time to waste, as she went off and brushed her teeth, leaving, locking the door, and taking her car.

-/-/-/-

"You're in a good mood," Keila said, eyeing her from the passenger's seat. "What's got you like this? Not complaining, but it's weird."

Marceline looked at her a bit skeptically. "Pardon me?"

"Like, you've been smiling, and not in the cranked up 'I'm gonna turn the town upside down' way." Her friend pointed out. "It's comforting, but weird. Something's gotten you a bit soft."

"I'm just looking forward to the elective options," Marceline said, deciding to smile wider in a comical way. "See? I'm baring my teeth. As usual."

"Har har," Keila laughed sardonically. "I'm sure you would've been aware that the electives were probably cut really badly. And we'll have to split if things don't appear well."

Marceline tried to disregard the disparaging (and somewhat realistic) comment, but it _did_ sink in. She wasn't as excited anymore. She hoped that Bonnibel's lack of knowledge on the matter of the openings meant that the school panel reconsidered. Slim hope as it was, she hoped nonetheless.

She just decided to blast some music and sing along a bit too loudly with Keila.

-/-/-/-

Bonnibel was at the area before the line started, probably taking note and guiding those who will come around to taking electives. Marceline did her best to avert her eyes, but just the simple wave wouldn't hurt, she supposed. The High Chancellor even appeared to be all sorts of stressed and in need to be nuanced, so she thought to possibly… lighten the load. It was all a guess.

"Hello, Prime Minister," she said, stuffing her pockets and putting on her usual smirk. "Aren't you going to write up your own electives?"

"Oh. Hello, Marceline." Bonnie said, being wary of the sudden niceness that was displayed. "I'm already done, but I had to watch the filing of some students."

"Any electives you had in mind?" Marceline asked, raising a brow for effect. "Because I'm certain there are _so many_ choices." She was bordering on hope, but she wanted to sound as carefree as she could.

Bonnibel casted an irritated glance at her.

"I'm certain you're aware that a lot of electives were cut off." Bonnie said, a bit drolly but with a sour note. Marceline's stomach twisted in knots – in the bad way. "Just find one and register. The chancellors have to sort things out with the faculty so that the school can even things out."

Marceline scowled, and Keila gave Bonnie a leveled look.

"Thanks… You know, we could've been given a heads up?" Keila muttered.

Bonnibel just rested her forehead on her right hand, waving away at Keila. "We were as helpless as you guys in not knowing what were dissolved and what were kept. Be happy that you're blessed that none of you are being blamed for all this. Even Sae Na is hounded. Just. Whatever, head on your way. Remember, two electives to fill your schedule. Try and find something, unless you want to be lacking units this semester."

With matching frowns, Keila and Marceline dismissed their case with Bonnibel and just opted to sign up for whatever their best options were which… weren't much to begin with.

Marceline scanned the list. There were hardly any options to fill for their humanities subjects… Most of the takeaway was on the Science and Tech, and Social Sciences spectrum. Hoping for Advancement in Musical Theory and Composition… Marceline did a double take.

There was none.

Marceline clenched her fist. Simon let them take away one of the core electives? One of the electives that basically was close to being a unifying factor for her course? Bullshit. But she couldn't take it out there. She just kept on scanning for anything more. Any other courses that were related to her field—

Composition, orchestration, and musical tech were all taken away.

Keila looked really pissed.

"I'm going to delay myself a bit here. I'll try to contact Grey for whatever his classes are or something; it'll be easier to get around with him," Keila murmured. "Just take whatever you feel like, Marceline. I know none of this crap really matters to you…"

And she headed off.

With a sigh, Marceline did a roulette. She was primarily good at these things:

\- Mathematics, mostly Fundamental Statistics (so she ticked that one).

\- She loved writing, so she figured that she might as well take creative writing – despite… things. God, that was embarrassing.

Somehow satisfied (yet very bitter), she took off her list and got to the Students Orders and Accounting office. By some strange circumstance, Bonnibel appeared to also have been in the office for quite some time. She was arguing in all ways.

"I don't understand. I thought that this elective could be petitioned." The redhead argued.

Ma'am Tessa Diana only looked through the window she was working in. "I'm sorry, Bonnibel, but the Music Tech elective is put forward to be removed completely for the semester. No petition can be accepted at this time; you'll have to get another elective."

Bonnibel was probably raging inside, but she held it in and contemplated on the possible electives to go through, sitting down on the lounge chairs provided. As Marceline opened up the registrar, she was met with the kind of response that she didn't want to hear.

"Oh! Sorry, sweetheart… We ran out of slots for the creative arts elective. You can look over the list of electives left with Miss Park over there. Sorry, we didn't print any more lists and—"

"It's fine, ma'am." Marceline nodded, feeling a bit dejected, with bad feelings piling up.

Bonnibel just kept on going through the list. Marceline sat down next to her anyway.

"It appears that we should share." She coughed, trying to get the redhead's attention.

"… I'm done anyway. I guess I don't have much to go by, at this point… I've taken every other elective for sciences; I've made my pick. You do you." And as Bonnie headed off to get her slot and left, Marceline lingered on one option. She looked back one last time. "Bye, Marceline. Hopefully you get what you want."

Political Science Elective: Public Speaking and Argumentation.

The big deal of it was that she was lingering on the option – not much else made sense since most of the others were from the Science and Tech department. And she thought… the heck with it, right? It's… uh, go mediocre, or go home. Because there is no other option. Jesus.

"Ma'am, I think I'll be choosing the Public Speaking and Argumentation elective for this semester…" she said, half-heartedly, to the woman manning the system.

Diana looked over her, and waved out with a smile. "Oh, alright… Not a lot of kids really go for that, but I take your word on it, dearie. Have a good day."

And it was done… oh well.

-/-/-/-

Marceline plopped onto her bed, ready for the dreaded day to be over. She has had enough of the fill of school, and was preparing to launch a tirade against Simon. How could he have cut so much? What the heck was wrong with him? Some superintendent… She rolled over to check on Tumblr, though. And she wasn't disappointed.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _Hey, Red._

 _Today… Ugh. Today was the worst. I'd indulge you, but I don't wanna bore._

 _How was your day?_

\- _Bonnie."_

Marceline smiled, yet again. But she thought of a way to express things, nonetheless.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"Hey Bon,

Today was a ride.

I didn't get electives I wanted, either. The school was swamped and I didn't get the slots for what I wanted. And for some of what I wanted, they were taken away. Looking at the beginning of the sem, with my list of subjects, I'm not really all too excited.

Tell me about your day?

\- Red."

Marceline hummed, as she arranged her things while waiting for Bonnibel to respond. She ate dinner, and watched some stupid YouTube videos until she got the ping from her phone.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _You know, being in charge of the student body is just so exhausting. I had to deal with people screaming at me about not getting things they wanted, and a lot of the time I had to explain how things worked. Some were even prattling on about how things didn't really match up to what they wanted. A lot of it was heated arguing with a bunch of people who wouldn't believe that I didn't open the topic of cutting electives with the department heads. I mean, what kind of nerve, right? I'm not omnipotent, so I don't know what idea they got about me managing with school affairs._

 _I didn't get the elective I wanted… I took Fundamental Statistics, though (…)"_

Marceline snapped her neck at that note. She… what? Statistics… oh no.

 _"_ _And I wanted to take up Music Tech but they also wouldn't let my petition through that._

 _Honestly, I'm not really excited for the ride, myself. I just want… I just wanted to expand my horizons; that's all – But I'm stuck with the Social Sciences department._

 _I have to take this debate class… I wanted to avoid politically inclined topics… but, oh well._

\- _Bonnie."_

Marceline didn't like the sound of that, but she sent one last response.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites:_

"Woah, brother. I'd feel the same…

Will you be alright, though? We can now finally start the tirade of day to day life, plus the anger towards the school system.

\- Red"

Despite the initial bad feeling she got, the night went on, and Marceline forgot the details of their conversation – probably because she was feeling too happy about it, with relief over sharing anger with someone online. She fell asleep soon enough, mid-conversation.

-/-/-/-

 _September 5, 2017 – 10:25AM_

Marceline walked up to the class door— her third period for the day was the Political Science elective. She needed to get things over with, so she just hummed along as she opened the door, prepared to meet the bored individuals.

She stopped though, as she came face to face with Bonnibel, who was just about to head out of the door.

"Oh. Hey, Marceline." She said, probably as a formal thing. She keeps saying "oh" before her name.

"Hey Bonnibel." Marceline sang. "Are you going to do some sort of prep for the students or something? Wouldn't that be a hassle?"

"No, this is my class." Bonnie grumbled. "And I didn't expect to see you here."

"Oh." Marceline said.

And then the realization hit Marceline.

Oh no.

Oh shit.

"Red" was not sure what she's going to say that night. Looks like Marceline has to be out of Bonnie's way in the real world.


	4. Mutual Avoidance - Great Grievances

CHAPTER 4 - Mutual Avoidance Makes For Great Grievances

Marceline tried her best to appear unfazed by the situation as she proceeded to sit on the chair from the side by the window, a seat behind the front. There's no point in hiding from the professor, whoever they might be; she learned it from the beginning of her time in the university, with Lim screaming at everyone who had the nerve (or the balls, or whatever) to stay at the seats designated at the back. What she wanted, though, was to remain secondary, inconspicuous – with the bonus as to probably not be next to Bonnibel at any point.

Bonnibel though, was clueless to the line that Marceline wanted to put. The girl in question just sat at the seat in front of her, with no such sense on what was going on with Marceline's head. Marceline didn't even really know why she was so worked up – but she just knew, that from several years of not really interacting, to suddenly being the redhead's anonymous confidante, she was probably breaching some sort of moral code. She tried to shut it, though. Not that anxiety would really stop, but what else is there to do?

So she just shut up.

After a few minutes, the professor – Betty Petrikov – got into the class, holding the class list and some other papers. Finn followed her with a bunch of books stuffed in his arms. Still remembering his comments on humanities, she felt a sense of ire. He winked at Bonnie though, and that probably made it a whole lot worse. Bonnie just dismissed him with an eye-roll.

Marceline snickered at her reaction, and it only prompted Bonnie to level a glare at her.

"Why are you laughing?" Bonnie said, accusingly.

"Hmmm… I'm just quite amused that Finny Boy over there is still hung over you," Marceline drawled. "You'd think a boy would finally get a grip once he gets a girl."

Bonnibel looked fairly annoyed; okay, much more annoyed than just the fair amount, but the point is, she's annoyed. Okay. At least the class was drowning everything out with their chatter. She seemed a little less annoyed once Finn left the classroom. Marceline didn't know what to make of that. Even better was the face she made when Sae Na finally entered the room (late much?). That was when Bonnie finally seemed to not mind the class as much.

"Hello, people." Professor Betty called over, probably to calm down the scene. "I'm Betty Petrikov, and I'll be your Public Speaking and Argumentation professor. Please distribute the books on our subject. And, yes, these have been paid for. Tuition."

Marceline felt everyone release a collective sigh of relief. Wow, that was saying a lot.

Betty looked across everyone with a glint in her eyes. She was expecting something; she was waiting and weighing things over. She looked over at Marceline, to Bonnie, and to everyone else.

"The thing about this class is, we need to establish pairs. And we need to start it from the very beginning of the semester. It's… essential. So they say."

Marceline blinked. Pairs?

"Why pairs?" Marceline blurted out, before she could filter it out.

Betty's eyes sparkled at the inquiry.

"You'll have your debate partner for the rest of the semester, of course. And it's best when you're stuck with someone. Challenges you." And she winked. "And it helps you get to know them."

The classroom went silent.

Marceline scanned the room for anyone she knew, and she found Grey sulking in the side. He noticed her then, and gave her a salute, and mimicking a notion that basically meant "me and you?" and it was heartwarming gesture to give the proposition, so she smiled and silently celebrated the victory of—

"By the way, I'm making sure the people you work with are people outside your social circle." Betty added, sensing the looks that the people in the class gave to their friends. "Like I said, this is a challenge. If you're aware of each other's old idiosyncrasies, then that totally erases the point."

Bonnibel and Sae Na looked defeated, as she looked like they looked like they found comfort but then had it snatched away. Marceline felt the same, as Grey's eyes went wide over the notion put forward by the professor. All Marceline could do was sink further in her seat.

Betty's eyes scanned over them again, as if to reanalyze what she said, but she was pleased with it, as she paused away and started ticking people in for attendance. Marceline dozed off after her name was called, feeling emotional exhaustion take its toll.

"Marceline Abadeer? Miss Abadeer, wake up. Pairing is going on…" Betty announced, as she tapped the top of her head. Marceline was all groggy, though.

"Simon wouldn't wake me up like this." She muttered.

Betty blinked, and hit her a little harder. "Come on now, Marceline."

With a bored shrug, she relented.

"You'll be paired with Miss Park." She happily sang.

Marceline didn't process what was going on at first, but once it registered, she was shock faced and wide awake.

"Which Park are we talking about…?" Marceline blurted out, as she looked over to the others.

Bonnibel was clearly displeased and _Park Sae Na_ (the Park she was more bent on being paired with) was apparently paired with some dude named Braco. Bonnibel looked stressed out enough as is, as she tried to alert her, she snapped her fingers right at Marceline's face.

"Bonnibel Park," the professor chimed, in a sing-song manner.

Marceline looked at the redhead, and then just got a sigh in return, irritation evident on her pretty features.

"Alright class! We'll have some rundown on the types of speeches – please do research on British Parliamentary form of debate. Our debates will be under that format. Don't forget to look up any issues…"

And the professor's voice just drones on as Marceline's dreaded fears come to.

-/-/-/-

Right after Public Speaking and Argumentation class, Marceline decided to settle a little bit before going out. She wanted to discuss things with Betty; it looked like Bonnibel was going to do the same. And if not, why was she staying a little bit longer?

"Hey, Betty…" Marceline drawled, unsure of where to start.

"Marcy," the professor said, smiling way too brightly for someone who hasn't left for lunch. "What's up?"

"Well…" Marceline sighed, taking a glance at Bonnie and seeing that she was arranging some sort of time table. "You know… I'm really not sure about the pairings and…"

"Oh hush now," Betty tutted, slightly striking a chord on Marceline. "It'll be good for you. Besides, you're a complete type B. If a type A like Bonnibel can't get you riled up for something like this, then by God I think it's some sort of conspiracy that the universe put up against us."

Bonnibel walked over to the table and gave Marceline a leveled glare, passing on something to Betty.

"I know you're trying to get rid of me. What? Can't put up a fight, Abadeer?" she snarled.

"Oh, why, dearest Bonnibel, what kind of fight does this entail?" Marceline grinned. She was partly amused of the challenge, probably inching closer than she intended.

Jabbing a finger at Marceline's chest, Bonnibel huffed. "You're just afraid that I'll tarnish your little reputation for being nasty; either that, or you're just scared."

With a smirk, Marceline raised a brow. "Scared of what? A ginger finding a way to keep my mouth moving?"

Bonnie almost flushed at the comment but her scowl probably kept it from becoming overt embarrassment.

"You're just scared of trying at all." And then turning to face the professor, "Ma'am Petrikov, I think… I'll take this challenge. But please don't forget to give this off to Sir Simon. It'd be a real big help."

And she was off.

Marceline was left to watch Bonnibel as she left. She couldn't help but smile, despite this slight pang.

-/-/-/-

With the whole "confronting Betty" thing, she had to rush a bit to get to the one free period that she, Keila, and Grey shared in the middle of the day.

"Marcy, you look all flushed and tired. Is that subject drying you out _already_?" Keila commented, poking her face.

"Nah, she's probably a bit miffed over being paired with Miss Prissy Princess." Grey muttered. He was about to pop the lid off of his soda, but Marceline took it from him, thus ending with her earning a sour expression from the boy.

"Oh, that girl? For real?" And cackles. Cackles all around.

Chugging a bit of the cherry softdrink, Marceline decided it was just a time to let loose a bit.

"Who cares, really?" She waved. "If it gets my grades up, then maybe it'll be of use."

The other two burst out laughing. It was a way to look at things, really.

"I bet she didn't see that coming. It'll probably bring down shit! Her grades are going to suffer!" And the two friends didn't really stop with the taunts against the Chancellor.

"Bonnibel has to haul her ass around, maybe."

"Maybe Princess would actually learn to chill."

"Keila, I think Princess might even go gay."

Their chants go so boisterously that Marceline couldn't even decipher whose voice was who, and she figured to just zone out from then on.

"Imagine: _Marceline Abadeer_ in a _Political Science_ class! I've seen everything now!" Finn bellowed, strutting into the lunch room. The next period was looming in, and Keila and Grey had to ditch soon. Didn't stop them from glaring all the way over to Finn's direction.

Sae Na remained quiet as she and Jake took their seats with him.

"Bro, stop being a dick. She ain't so bad." The older Mertens barked, punching him by the shoulder. It didn't even look half in jest, but Finn laughed anyway.

"She got close to the lowest standing in the school, and then you still defend her? She's literally borderline stupid. She's probably only good at playing those instruments she's so proud of. She shouldn't be stepping into the Social Sciences boundary." Finn retorted. "She probably wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for _Dear Old Uncle Simon_."

"백치. (Idiot)" Sae Na whispered. "You're saying that as if you're so exponentially better."

Finn shrugged, not caring.

Jake was visibly angry, but didn't say any more at the matter. He and his girlfriend just scooted a little over especially once Phoebe got in to sit with them. Phoebe wasn't any more into talking with Finn, either. They all went about their less aggressive banter, veering away at the topic of "more likely to fail" candidates. It brought Marceline into her pit of bad thoughts.

"Hey Marce," Keila said, snapping Marceline back from the draining track in her mind. "Grey and I gotta head to class. We've got this Health Science in Food class thing, so…"

Marceline smiled weakly. Why couldn't she have just chosen something like that?

"It's fine. Stay safe, and don't poison anyone."

"We make no such promises." And they left laughing, leaving a slightly discouraged and unhappy Marceline by herself. It just took a while until she saw Bonnibel, who walked to Sae Na, and later on stalked away. Probably to some sort of fancy schmancy student body head something or whatever.

It was heavy.

-/-/-/-

Statistics was next and Marceline just wanted to die right then and there. She _knew_ Bonnibel was in that class, and now knowing what Finn really thought of her brought her to all sorts of bad places. Despite that (and the struggle to really try anything), she drove right in with the knowledge that at least she was really good with numbers. Living by herself in the class would be a breeze.

Professor Frieda was already by the table, with Bonnibel helping her set things up.

"Marceline Abadeer! It's so good to see you." Frieda greeted.

Marceline waved at her, with a half-hearted smile. Professor Frieda seemed to have sensed her exhaustion as she set her to go to her seat. Marceline had her head by the arm chair as soon as she dropped in, her usual spot in every classroom by the window. The classroom filled in with other students, and there goes Finn's group yet again showing up. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice her, so he just sat down comfortably at the seat by the middle of the classroom. A calculated move for finding seats.

As she raised her head she took a little look at Bonnibel, who decided to sit in front of her. She found a sense of comfort in that, as Bonnie clearly stayed away from where Finn's group lingered. Bonnie looked to check on Marceline's direction and Marceline just went back to her previous "sleeping" position.

-/-/-/-

Marceline's first instinct was to bash the walls once she got home, or to write some song that she thought would make the most of the time. It would've been productive, but she was just way too tired.

She decided to settle for the next best thing.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"Hey Bonnie.

Today was terrible. Just terrible."

She waited for Bonnibel to reply, but after two hours, she just gave up on it. Who was she kidding? There's no point.

But.

 _Ping!_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _What's up? I'm here. I'll listen._

 _I've got a lot on my mind too… But hey, I'm here for you. We can talk about it."_

Just as she thought Bonnibel wouldn't reply, she got that message.

And she smiled.


	5. Mutual Avoidance - Great Grievances Pt2

She looked at Bonnie's message and felt her heart soar; a little bit uncomfortably but still pleasant, nonetheless.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"I just feel so stupid with all these people around… They're, like, ticking around. If you knew who I was, you'd probably agree. But anyway, the point is, I guess it's my fault with how people are acting around me, but I just feel so downgraded when I'm out there. And it's like I'm looking for every pretense not to try.

I feel that maybe I should be vying for some sort of honor. I just… I was constantly hounded by the deans and teachers, accused of cheating on tests since I do a lot better there than anything. They keep telling me I'm probably not genuinely Scarborough Uni material.

But I do want to try and be genuine. I just don't know if it's really worth it at the end of it."

Marceline didn't really notice it at first, but she was starting to well up by the eyes. She would refuse the idea of crying at that moment, but she was at the comfort of her own room. Her dad was yet to come home from his law firm, so she realized to just indulge in the weakness. Even for just this once. Never did she want to admit that her peers really bothered her; that was meant to be just dust off of her textbooks.

Bonnibel's reply came in a little bit as she was sniffing and watching animal videos.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"That's understandable._

 _Let me tell you something…_

 _I'll be honest, okay… When I was in high school, I called everyone an idiot. I didn't think that anyone had any potential, and I guess that's what made **me** an idiot. I was dead wrong. I shouldn't have judged people that hard – and having the highest academic standing didn't give me the merit to say that, either way. I was really shitty, and that post where I called everyone out on it became viral. People hated me overnight._

 _The thing is, I kind of remember your whole quip against the standardized education swing, and I find myself accountable in a lot of things that I am definitely not good at (which, you might have guessed, veer more on the fine arts department). If I was someone put up against those biases, to be put as someone not smart enough because I can't do anything artsy for shit, then I would also be labeled an idiot. Anyway. I think I veered off topic for a lot of the way there. Sorry._

 _You're definitely not an idiot; you're a nice one, so… really, I think you're way cooler than you give yourself credit for. And academic status be damned._

 _The University of Scarborough is not that bad as a university, given that it's this big ole Premier State buzz. But there is no uniform way to decipher what's going on. Perhaps you're not learning as you'd hope you would, if you're really excelling in those subjects. The point is, you can try if you want to. But these goddamn grades and whatever your reputation you've had, no one has the right to really pin shit on you._

 _I believe in you, Red."_

Marceline stopped sobbing as she read Bonnibel's message. She read it once, twice, again and again until she could really digest what Bonnie had said. It took every ounce of power in her _not_ to tell the girl on the other end of the conversation who she was. She was scared that if she told Bonnie, then it'd all fall apart and the girl would do a double take and take it all back. But then, she did recall that time back in high school.

Whoops. Flashback time.

/-/-/

 _"Bonnibel Park posted some shit on her Tumblr blog… that was bubblegumbites, right?" Keila muttered. "I knew she was too pretty and smart. Probably hid all the nasty."_

 _"Yeah," Marceline replied, toying with some of her hair. She needed a bit of distraction at the possibility that Bonnibel would think she was one of those "idiots" too._

 _Grey mumbled around his drink. He was probably peeved, since he was crushing on Bonnie for the most of high school freshman year. To have that one angelic look of perfection taken away would have been quite the bummer. Marceline felt the same, though she didn't want to admit it. She still believed that maybe Bonnibel would've been a little bit cooler._

 _Ash, sitting next to the group, reached out a hand towards Grey, prompting him to hand him the drink. Grey complied, still feeling stuck in his thoughts._

 _"No one can ever really be that good," Ash muttered. "I mean, if anything, the best you can go for is Marceline."_

 _Marceline raised a brow at him. "Is that supposed to be an insult or what? Dude, if this is your idea of courtship, then I don't get it."_

 _"What I mean is…" Ash began, patiently. "At least you know you don't try too goddamn hard. You've got your place, and you never really have to do much else; at least, that's what I think. And I guess that's what I like about you." And he added a wink to that. "Princess' got her head in the clouds, and doesn't know when to settle."_

 _Marceline took the soda from his hands and splashed it over him. "You know what? I know you're trying to be charming, but it's just really annoying. Buzz off."_

 _"Whuh—" Ash floundered, unsure of what to do. "Sorry, I just…"_

 _Grey grumbled a bit. Marceline looked over at him, and sat closer to him, as Ash stalked off, half-apologizing and half-confused over what he could have done wrong._

 _"I just thought she was so nice and cute…" Grey whispered, scratching at his neck._

 _All Marceline could do was pat his back._

 _"I mean… I know. I guess." She admitted. "I know. I did too."_

 _From the corner of her eye, she spotted Finn Mertens trying to catch Bonnibel's attention again, as he flashed around by the door. Bonnibel was patient and pleasant towards him._

 _But it felt like a stupid façade to everyone else._

-/-/-/-

Marceline was brought back from the short trip to the town of the past. High school was already meant to be damned at this stage in her life, so she might as well have thought to give herself a break, right?

And Bonnibel deserved the benefit of the doubt.

Right.

Marceline got a little idea, though, seeing that the sad memory came to – it probably made Bonnibel sad, as well.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"That made me feel much better, thank you…

Do you like music? Or, do you listen to any music?"

As she sent the message in an attempt to curb the momentum, Bonnibel's reply only came in a little bit later.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"It's not much a secret but not a lot of people know (and a lot still don't believe me): I love music!_

 _I just don't know what to listen to…"_

And the conversation continued, with a lightheartedness that Marceline hoped for.

-/-/-/-

Hunson peered into Marceline's room as he noticed that Marceline was still up, and on the internet.

"Seeing anything fun, Marcy?" he inquired, as he opened the door a little wider.

Marceline yelped at his sudden presence, obviously trying to hide the fact that she was making a mixtape for someone. That did not escape Hunson's line of sight though, as he gave a little approving wink.

"You're making a mix tape!" He cooed. It was really weird. "That's so sweet. Who's the lucky person?"

"Dad, you're embarrassing me."

"Honey, no one is here to see it. Yet." He replied, a bit too heartily.

Marceline rolled her eyes.

"C'mon sweetheart," he even wiggled his brows. "At least tell me whether they're a boy or a girl."

Marceline, blushing furiously, gave in. "She's a girl."

Hunson cheered, but he kept to himself again as he smiled. "So proud of you!" And then he left.

Marceline looked at the mix tape (mix CD, really), and she wondered how on Earth she was going to anonymously hand over this mixtape full of songs that Bonnie might like…

Oh well.

-/-/-/-

 _MIX TITLE: For Bonnie -_

 _Just how I love you by Tyler Burkhart_

 _Atrophy by The Antlers_

 _I'm Not a Ghost by Flatsound_

 _Overgrown by Oh Wonder_

 _A Heart Like Yours by Kevin Garrett_

 _Night Go Slow by Catey Shaw_

 _Push by Fog Lake_


	6. Potential Energy

CHAPTER 6 – Potential Energy

As Marceline took the drive to school the next morning, she felt something at the pit of her stomach coming close to a nauseous acid. The drive would remain uninterrupted only for a little bit longer, as Keila's block was just by the curb. Marceline was thinking: How would she give the mix to Bonnibel? How would she confront her, without giving away the fact that she was RED? Perhaps she just needed to take the drive down a little bit longer, but soon enough, Keila popped up and there would be no excuses to ever passing her by (and not picking her up). She thought she could do that, but Keila would probably not forgive her. Ever.

Opening up the passenger seat, Keila bounced in her seat, looking a tad more preppy than Marceline normally sees her.

"Hmm? You seem to be in a good mood." Marceline shot a smirk Keila's way, still slightly unsure what to make of the situation.

"Maybe? You'll never know, Abadeer." And she winked. She _winked_.

"Okay, I was expecting more of uh, like… you know," Marceline drawled, "The usual set of litanies on the extensive oppressive educational system that we have to endure under the administration's bordering duress?"

"Maybe I'm just excited, Marce." Keila replied, waving a hand through the window as the drive to school went on. As Marceline was about to think that Keila might just be in some high state, the brunette continued, "Aaaaand Grey finally asked me out. Like, yesterday, after the food science class."

That nearly put their ride to a complete halt as a startled Marceline slightly skidded the car because of that statement. As she continued the drive though, her face was lit up; well, it took years for that to develop. Better now than never for Grey, right? Or, uh, yesterday. Better that it has happened than never. Right.

"What the fucking fuck?! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Or, like, yesterday?" Marceline nearly screeched. "I never thought I'd ever see the day, my God."

"Never really know when a guy would fess up, huh?"

"Love, I think that's just Grey."

"Or every guy in Scarborough."

"Probably."

Keila just laughed, and Marceline just laughed along with her, forgetting her own romantic woes at the moment – and probably smiling so much, feeling a tad optimistic on the notion.

-/-/-/-

Marceline grunted, as she sat down in her break period, reevaluating her current situation, hoping to gain some clarity out of it, one way or another. In spite of the deliberation, she decided to mull over the events of the day and what to make of it. Breathing in, breathing out; she was just left to wait for Keila and Grey to come by after picking their lunch meals from the food court's various stalls.

The morning was mostly spent with a bunch of majors, as the electives she chose were only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. She felt it would be awfully weird to just skim through everything like that – she'd have classes even on weekends, but she would've been used to that by now. She's been in college for quite a while – enough time to really understand what it really meant to go to college: a ride of try or die. That sounded really grim, but Marceline figured she could write a song about that one day.

Still restless though, she started fiddling with the little disk case in her bag. She flicked her eyes, and did the occasional check-up for it: _"For Bonnie,"_ the label read. The back portion had _"from RED"_ written at the back. She didn't know what else to write on it, but she knew that deep down it would have revealed a little too much than what she would've liked if she wrote anything else. Though, she was wondering whether she was ruining some sort of piracy law – she quickly disregarded the thought with the argument that this was definitely not in any way for profit… Unless the expected profit was Bonnibel's smile, but still, capitalism doesn't work that way. And she _did_ buy the songs. So, moot point.

The question still bothered her: How will she give this to Bonnie?

Marceline jumped and put the disk back into her bag once Keila and Grey sat down next to her, with their trays at hand. Marceline couldn't help but grin.

"Looks like our little group is finally open to a little more love," she sighed, dramatically. "I can barely feel the constant ire of the day to day struggles of college life."

"Hush now, Marceline. Don't ruin the moment." Keila laughed, and it was almost strange how the shift came about. Grey just smiled and ate his food, trying to keep the red from blooming on his face. Evidently, this was a peace that they were all longing for. Marceline started to dig into her food as well, but she had so many questions.

"Spill though, how'd it happen? How'd you ask her? I'm dying to know. Any plans for a date?" Marceline wiggled her eyebrows after racing through the entire sentence.

Keila and Grey just looked at each other for a moment, and Keila just smiled, relenting to letting Marceline know the details.

"Well… he basically just… Uh, how do you put this in words where I don't sound like I embarrassed myself?"

"I gave her a cake that I baked the morning before our first class yesterday. She basically cried over a cake. It had some icing on it. Like… yeah." Grey muttered, coughing a bit; still smiling though. Smitten children.

Marceline just let the smile seep through. Something she felt lacking though came back. She wasn't sure what to think. She still wasn't sure how to brace the reality of her "situation," now with the bonus of her friends as reminders.

"Ever thought about getting into a relationship too, Marce?" Keila inquired. "I mean, you're hella attractive… so I don't think it's really much on whether people would really date you."

Marceline just blinked, caught off guard, but eventually burst into laughter. She was close to reeling over, but she caught herself. "Darling, these people think I'm a vapid bitch. Which is, fair, half-true, but you get me." And she just ate some more, trying to dislodge the sudden ache. "And besides, if you can remember, my previous romantic experiences weren't exactly up to par. I don't think I'm ready to get anywhere with anyone right now."

"You're definitely not vapid…" Keila muttered, and Grey shifted awkwardly.

"You know what I mean…" Marceline whispered, almost too sadly.

Keila just nodded and they resumed with their meals, back to a careful and lightweight balance. So fragile. So calculated.

/-/-/

 _"_ _Ash, I said no." Marceline spat. "I don't want to go out with you."_

 _"_ _Just once, Marce? Just one date." Ash pleaded. "Like a test drive."_

 _"_ _I'm not a fucking car, if you haven't noticed." She snapped, and it was enough to make the boy flinch. He was frightened, and she could tell. She was thinking of not pushing it, though._

 _"_ _Just, okay, okay… Sorry. But, you know, it might work out?" And he even gave a somewhat sincere smile. Marceline almost fell for it, but more on the pity side. Was there any way to dissuade this boy? It was all too stressful for Marceline, but will it really be okay to just give in to the wiles of some boy's close obsession towards her? It definitely wasn't healthy, and wouldn't be healthy, even in a short span of time. And if so, what even for the long run? There were a lot of variables left out of this. Part of it was the fact that Marceline could not genuinely reciprocate the entirety of what Ash wanted._

 _"_ _Please, Marceline." He stressed. Demanding an answer that would ring well to him._

 _"_ _If I said yes, would you fucking leave me alone even for just a bit?" She said, with an icy glaze to that. She didn't know what she was getting into. What she did know was that he would not stop until she gave him a satisfactory answer._

 _Ash's face presented trepidation, but he swallowed it up with a hopeful smile._

 _"_ _You'll really go out with me?" Ash ecstatically hailed. "For real?"_

 _Marceline looked guilty enough, but also heavily distressed. But she just forced a smile._

 _"_ _Well… what the hell could go wrong?" And she knew, deep down, that too many things could and will go wrong. She regretted it that very minute._

-/-/-/-

Marceline decided to hang around for a bit, but she was not quite sure what to do with the little package she still had – the little thing weighing heavier in her mind than it's physical mass could really ever make out; nonetheless, she felt this sort of giddiness that could remain questionable. She did have a little idea that could be of help.

Crossing over to the Student Orders and Accounting office, she tapped over to Ma'am Tessa's window. The turtle-like lady acknowledged Marceline with slow blinks, as if just registering that she was there. Marceline found the image funny.

"Hey ma'am… uh, someone wanted to hand this over to Bonnibel Park. I don't know who, but I think they just… wanted to hand it over, or something." She tried to give off the aura of nonchalance but really, she was just working under the pressure of nerves.

The lady just blinked. Slowly. Very, unbearably slowly.

But this was all calculated for Marceline. She _knew_ that:

1) The turtle lady would probably take a hint or

2) She would forget she came but would deliver as Marceline would please, given how the woman generally is.

Tessa just smiled and took the disk, saying, "Bonnibel will be here around later for her little petition work, so you've come at a good time."

Marceline raised her brow.

"Petition for what?"

"She's been trying to reopen some slots for some subjects, albeit belatedly – and if not, to at least reassure the staff and students that they'll be available next semester." Tessa smiled.

Marceline just floundered about, confused, but walked away swiftly. She would probably ask Bonnibel about that once she got online later on. She thought that she should probably download the application, so she could log-in and reply on the go. She just lay it off of her thoughts, though.

On her way to the carpark, she crashed onto Bonnibel, with her paperwork spilling onto the floor. Marceline panicked, then falling onto her knees to help Bonnie pick up whatever they were.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Princess," she blurted, not thinking. She was too fixated on the papers, as she filed the papers with quick ease whilst picking them up. She got a lot of information merely looking them through, though. And she couldn't help but smile, but with the pretense of merely looking busy. Bonnibel seemed too distracted to really care or notice, as she went along with fixing the set of papers on her part. She didn't seem to be too tense, though, which was more like a relief for Marceline.

"Thanks," Bonnie said, as she got up. She had a vacant look on her, so Marceline just tried to wave her attention back to her, attempting to hand her the properly ordered papers in her hands.

It didn't work the first time around.

"Bonnie?" Marceline said, waving a bit, slightly shaking the papers in her hands for effect.

Bonnibel blinked, looking right at Marceline. "Hm."

"What?" Marceline sputtered, as the redhead inspected her a bit.

"That's weird." She said, as if concluding something.

Confused with the situation, Marceline looked around, not quite getting what was up with Bonnibel at that point. Did she have something on her face? Did she say something wrong? Worse still… _did Bonnie know she was RED?_

Marceline just swallowed the lump in her throat. "Uh. What is?"

"You called me Bonnie. And like, in a normal, non-condescending way." The other girl said, sounding genuinely surprised – if not, how so? "Normally you'd say 'Princess,' 'Prime Minister,' or whatever. And when you do call me by my name, it's normally a really annoying set of notes trying to enunciate 'Bonnibel.' Normally, you sound like you're trying to insult me."

Marceline quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Hmmm…" Marceline pondered. "You know, first of all, how in heck do you really notice something like that? And second," she paused, thinking the next one through, "I'm not _always_ trying to sound bitchy. I do have an honest to God nice soul."

Bonnibel narrowed her eyes at her. "Then why do you always seem like you're trying to peeve me?"

A little bit surprised at the notice, Marceline laughed. "That's… just the general image that people see of me, and while I do deliver, on occasion... Bonnibel, really. After years of technically knowing each other, you barely really know me to be one to judge."

"Wow, now it really sounds like I'm the bad one." She actually smiled at that. Marceline's couldn't stop reciprocating the gesture, but anyway, she forgot that she was holding some papers.

"Oh shit! Right, I forgot that I was holding these." Marceline showed Bonnie the stack of papers still in her hand, and the redhead went back to a contemplative state.

"God… I have to rearrange that…" she huffed.

"Oh, no need. You'll just need to reinsert things here and there," Marceline said, a tad bashfully. "I organized them and shit."

Bonnibel blinked, uncertain. She flicked through the papers though, and she was pleased with what she had inspected. "That was fast. I didn't quite expect that."

"Well, I help dad with paperwork a lot; it does help to fix things here and there."

"Wanna help me bring these over to the SOA office?" Bonnibel mumbled, still skimming and checking through the arrangement of the papers.

Marceline blinked. She was _just_ there. She could watch the delivery unfold as well… She'd know how Bonnibel felt about the disk firsthand. Hopefully Ma'am Tessa wouldn't say anything. In the end, she just shrugged and took the papers into her hands.

"Sure, Bon. Let's go."

"Thanks… Marceline."

Bonnibel smiled, but her expression went back to the contemplative state that Marceline happened upon. Marceline decided she didn't like the look on it; not one bit.

"These papers…" Marceline started, "most of them have some point for the petition; but, well…"

The redhead turned her way, skeptical. Unsure. The way she looked though, Marceline felt she needed to really prove something there.

"Bonnie… Uh, given that this petition has a, well, somewhat solid intent," she thought it over. "I think there are some sort of legal liabilities that you could put forward. Maybe ask some people to put forward the request; I mean, with the cut, it's really unreasonable so… maybe there's this sort of contract you can go about it. Like, a probationary action against the school or whatever it is called, I'll ask my dad. It could really strengthen the cause, you know? And more than that, I skimmed through some of the papers really quickly and I think that some of these need more backing…" And she was just starting to ramble, at that point.

Bonnibel smiled at her. Warm, genuine. "You actually care about the petition to return the courses?"

Marceline blinked. "Duh, ya dingus."

Seeming pleased, Bonnie deviated, accepting the option that Marceline provided. They just did some chitchat as they reached the Student Orders and Accounting office.

Ma'am Tessa looked through the window, as Bonnibel and Marceline dropped the papers back on the counter. The turtle-lady squinted through her glasses, then it appeared that something was processing in her head. Marceline just remembered what she dropped off, and was back to her nervous state. She forgot that it would really be nice if Tessa remembered only a portion of earlier.

"Oh, Bonnibel. Right. The petition…" she said, slowly. As the registrar looked through took the files, she found the disk. "And someone wanted to give this to you…" And as slow as she said it, Marceline's heart was hammering in her chest again. "I don't remember who… But it said your name, so."

Bonnibel blinked, a bit more alert, as she took the disk. She read through the front, thinking. As she read the back though, her face was suddenly red.

"Oh my god." She blurted out. "Oh my god." And she was jumping, and she seemed a bit happier and loose than her image would let be.

Feigning ignorance, Marceline looked at her. "What's up, Bon? Anything special?"

Bonnibel just smiled. "Hmmm. It's nothing, I swear." Everything about her said otherwise. "A friend just gave a gift, is all."

"Hm?" Marceline hummed, clearly wanting to hear more. But they just left the room, as Bonnibel seemed too preoccupied to really say anything.

As Bonnie was headed to the carpark, probably to reach her own vehicle, she waved at Marceline; she was clearly in a good mood, and Marceline was half-sure that it was probably her – or rather RED's – doing.

"Thanks for accompanying me, Marce!" And she was off in her ride. Marceline _did_ hear Bonnie playing the disk as soon as she got into her car. Marceline smiled her way, and then as soon as Bonnie's car was out of sight, she started jumping. If people saw her, they'd probably think she was crazy. She didn't care, though. She was just happy.

-/-/-/-

In her bedroom, Marceline couldn't help but play her bass, still overwhelmed with thrumming energy. She was way too happy that she couldn't contain it – even the complicated riffs she was making were starting to become way too easy for her. Her phone was still downloading the Tumblr app, and putting down the bass, she got down to do some homework – mostly focusing on ethnical part of music, with the major focusing on introducing various cultures of music. She was all too excited with this.

Once she opened up Tumblr, she was happy to see a few messages from Bonnibel.

 _/_

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _OH MY GOD"_

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ send a message:

 _"_ _First, I'd like to say, thank you so much for the mixtape. I absolutely loved it._

 _Second… Goddamn, you have such good taste in music."_

/

/

Marceline smiled at that one. Oh, Bonnibel, she _knows_ she has good taste in music. Anyone who would say otherwise could _suck it_.

The next message was a picture, with Bonnibel smiling. Her smile so warm, and nice, and pretty, and… So wonderful. Marceline felt a sudden jab of happiness wave through her. It was so surreal but goddamn she was so happy.

 _/_

 _/_

 _suckstolovered_ sent a message to _bubblegumbites:_

"Oh my god. You're so… pretty. How dare you. This girl just might fall in love with you, swear to god.

Also… Um, yeah. I was thinking you were probably stressing out. And I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me and basically… yeah. Haha. I'm really happy you liked it!

How was your day?"

/

/

Hunson knocked on Marceline's door, smiling widely as he noticed that Marceline was definitely on cloud nine.

"Marceline, I've got you some takeout from the local diner. I've got those fries that you like. And don't worry, I didn't nab any this time." He laughed, putting down the food by her study desk. "Were you able to give the mixtape? How did she like it?"

Marceline beamed up at him.

And seemingly pleased, and noticing she was in a conversation with someone, he smiled at her. "Alright, darling. Just sleep early, and don't forget to eat. Goodnight. Love you!" He closed the door; it seemed that everything was alright. She looked at her screen again to find another message from Bonnie.

 _/_

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _Oh, stop it you! Hahaha. But really, this was so charming… I can probably never top that. And beware, I'm not really the best person to fall for. ;) Watch out, and don't say I didn't warn you. (jk, I know you're kidding)_

 _You know, today… people are just constantly surprising me."_

/

/

Marceline thought a little bit…

 _/_

 _/_

 _suckstolovered_ sent a message to _bubblegumbites:_

"How so? Who would bewilder the elusive and wonderful Bonnibel Park?"

Waiting for a reply didn't really take all too long.

 _/_

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _You know that Marceline girl? I was scared of anything to do with her."_

/

/

Marceline's heart sank a little bit. But Bonnibel sent a follow up.

/

/

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message:

 _"_ _But I'm starting to think she might not be so bad._

 _Anyway, how was_ _ **your**_ _day? :)_ _"_

 _/_

 _/_

Marceline looked stunned, but she felt… happy. Maybe if Bonnibel liked the in-real-life Marceline, she'd be okay with realizing that she was RED. But the confrontation and admission can wait. Even though it was shifty and definitely not permanent, it was nice. She liked where they were right then and there.

She hoped Bonnie did, too.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Guys, uh... Well. I'll be really busy tomorrow, so I updated early. After this, it's back to Monday/Tuesday updates.


	7. Object At Rest

CHAPTER 7 – Object At Rest

 _Ring, ring, ring. –_

 _7:15AM September 21, 2017._

 _Ring, ring, ring._

 _Ring, ring, ring._

At the set of rings from her alarm, Marceline gave a slightly aggravated huff. Another day, another dollar; that's what they say, but only recently did Marceline want to admit that earning the dollar upon getting up was harder than she'd expect.

Marceline tried to blink off the sleepiness taking over her. She wasn't used to staying up so late, but she genuinely enjoyed her conversations with Bonnibel, to the point that she sacrificed some well-deserved sleep. In turn, Bonnie _did_ help fill in some details of important things, such as study. Marceline helped her get through the most of them, with researching and other such important details. She was still befuddled over all the paperwork that Bonnie had to go through, with her "baby thesis" for some psychosocial work, a research on biosynthesis, and even the petition. As ironic as it was to find the internet as some sort of distraction, she finally did fancy a little reading here and there.

In an effort to motivate herself in going to school, she picked up her phone and sent Bonnibel a message. Ah, the convenience of mobile apps.

/

/

 _suckstolovered_ sent a message to _bubblegumbites_ :

"The morning light is not too nice. I didn't think getting up would be much of a chore, but here we are, right? I feel like I've finally achieved and passed through some sort of ritual, and or rite of life."

/

/

She figured it would only take a little bit of time to get the response, but Bonnibel did not reply even after Marceline got ready and went down to get some breakfast. This got her a tad curious, but she didn't want to push it. Maybe she was busy. There weren't even any new posts from her as she checked the blog, so there was no real reason be suspicious.

"Honey, is something wrong?" Hunson said, squeezing a bit at her shoulder.

The action startled Marceline a bit, but she didn't really know what to say to that. There really was nothing wrong; or at least, not that she would know.

"I guess I'm just sleepy. I've been spending so much time studying a bunch of different papers that I think I'm getting overrun with a bunch of new information." And though that part was true, she didn't quite decipher the entirety of her ill ease. "And I guess there's a lot of action here and there from everything you see."

Her father looked at her with furrowed brows, evidently worried. "I think it's great that you're doing some serious studying lately," And Marceline braced herself for some sort of harsh line or reprimanding, but… surprisingly, her father's next words were gentle. "But don't burn yourself out, okay?"

She blinked, confused. She smiled, still. "Why would I be burnt out? I'm doing fine… I think."

"What I mean is," he said, scratching at his neck. "You've been online quite a lot recently, and I've noticed it'd go to a point where you'd stay up late; and with ongoing news, a lot of it is draining. You might drown into those issues."

"I don't quite get the connection, though? What does the internet have to do with current affairs?"

"Honey, I guess I shouldn't tell you too much. But let's just say that the internet is not a nice place," he paused, "and that some of my clients are under harm because of it – either with them, personally, or whatever backlash they experience with it."

Marceline still did not understand, so she just let it sink in for a little longer. Her father greeted her before he left, sending her a worried look. She attempted to get it off her mind, though, as she eventually got to fixing herself up and leaving the house, sending one more message to Bonnie.

/

/

 _suckstolovered_ sent a message to _bubblegumbites:_

"Hey Bon? Are you okay? Send me a message when you can."

/

/

-/-/-/-

Marceline was still worried. More than just that little piece of life advice from her father, Bonnibel still hasn't replied; and even though her data was probably still working, she couldn't seem to see anything new from Bonnibel. Not with her messages, or her blog. It probably shouldn't rile her up so much, but then there would always be reason to worry – for absolutely anything, really.

As she passed by Keila's curb, it appeared that she was radiating with the depressing atmosphere, her nerves probably becoming quite overwhelming.

"Marceline?"

"Yes, Keila?"

"You're not okay."

Waving her right hand as she steered with the other, pretending to swat away some sort of worry, Marceline concentrated on the road. Whatever it was, it was merely an ominous feeling that deserved no sort of speculation whatsoever. She still kept an eye on the phone on her dashboard, waiting for it to notify her of any messages from Bonnie at the risk of Keila seeing it.

"I don't know. Is there a reason to not be okay? If there isn't, then I should be." Marceline muttered, not sounding convinced of her own words.

"It may be irrational, it might be otherwise. It's okay to be a little bit winded out time after time." Keila responded, patting Marceline's shoulder. "But don't think too hard on it. Okay?"

As if it was suddenly jinxed, Marceline could _not_ stop thinking about it. But that wouldn't be Keila's fault. She's always been paranoid, even of the simplest things.

"It really is nothing," she dismissed. "I'm just… fidgety. Something in my gut tells me bad things come upon us. Either that, or I'm having really bad PMS."

That got Keila laughing, and as they started to see their campus came into view, Marceline looked to her phone. Despite the pit in her stomach getting a little bit more upturned in the wrong way, she was willing her hand to check on notifications.

Suffice to say, there were still none from Bonnibel.

-/-/-/-

The first two subjects was a major and a core subject – subjects that Marceline elected to just breeze through with just the usual attendance, mini-quizzes, and expense of the remainder of those fifty to fifty-five minutes just going through theoretical concepts coming to a close on their practical real-to-life usage – with typical segues on class etiquette. All of which were easy to just ignore; she didn't care much to give any attention. If she had to listen, then they would've proven their point by kicking her out; but she never gave them reason to. It was mutual tolerance, as they'd say.

What Marceline _was_ looking forward to was her third period.

For the past few meetings, they were merely discussing methods and formats of debates and other speeches. It was banal, but respectable – but that _still_ wasn't the reason for her antsy excitement. She just wanted to know that Bonnibel was alright.

Her jumpiness was evident as she kept pacing about her legs, unsure of what to do, and not quite good at figuring out how to clear her head.

This probably wasn't healthy but she was working on it.

-/-/-/-

 _10:28AM_

Her watch wasn't fooling her, and neither was the classroom clock. She figured that Bonnibel would have at least attended her classes, and she knew Bonnibel would be an early bird. It was evident, with all the previous days of attendance. What could've been so different now? But at that point, Marceline just resigned. Maybe she'd gone somewhere else or something. Even if there was this itch, there's no point in trying to aggravate it.

She looked out the window as the record of attendance for the day was being made, and as Bonnibel's name was called, there was evidently no one who would've claimed for her being there.

"Bonnibel? Miss Park? Does anyone know where she is?" Betty asked, looking around.

Still, no one spoke.

"Miss Sae Na, do you have any idea where Bonnibel is?" the professor asked.

The girl looked up, as if just suddenly being aware. She looked tired. "She's probably sick or something. She never usually misses classes for anything… So, maybe she just caught something really bad."

Marceline didn't like the sound of that, but still, what was there to do with that? It's just that it's usually a rarity for someone of her high standing to really let anything get in the way of her academic performance. Being ill was probably the most logical explanation for that kind of thing, one way or another. She guessed that the only thing that _should_ bother her right then and there was the fact that Bonnibel was her partner in that class. If Bonnibel missed anything, it would be her job to fill it in.

"Class…" Betty said, with a slant of a sigh in her tone, "I wanted to do a little informal debate within the class but since the grouping is a little off and awkward, and I think that'd be one huge mess… I'm going to have to modify the pace a bit. You do remember our topic on British Parliamentary, right?"

Despite most of the class' bored chorus of "yes," Marceline actually perked up at that. It sounded fun. Sadly, she didn't know how in heck she was going to go about it without her partner. And despite her familial background of lawyers, she doesn't exactly know how to give arguments.

Looking through some papers, Betty distributed them and let the class peer through their copies first. Once Marceline got the papers, the she assessed that most of the things written were mostly current events and extensive issues she's been exposed to for quite a while now (semi-thanks to the trash that is Tumblr).

Clearing her throat, Betty announced, "Since there are twenty-four of you in total as a class, we'll have three rounds of these. I'll let you guys face each other accordingly, but of course there will also be a select panel of adjudicators, and a set of audience. I'll be giving you guys some issues and relevant articles that you might want to look upon, but I implore you guys to look through anything else – credible sources, of course; and also, please try to assess the roles you'll be playing with your partner in the different scenarios you'll go through."

With the pause, she shot a little look at Marceline. "Okay, class is dismissed. But Miss Abadeer, could you please come over here for a little bit?"

Marceline nodded and just waited for everyone to filter out before she walked over to Betty's desk.

"What's up, Betty?"

"I need you to give these papers over to Bonnibel," and she handed her a stack of papers, with the details still obscured from her view. "You can view them if you want, but please don't talk about it to anyone else. I trust you won't, but still. And also… Please try to arrange things with Bonnibel by today. Visit her by her place or something. It'll be good for preparation, and maybe you'll even bond; if she's sick you can try to help her out, play doctor."

"But… what?" Marceline floundered, taking the papers and looking through them. "I don't even know how to contact her? I don't even know… uh, what… What? This is a bit sudden, Bets."

"Who said I wasn't going to give you her contact details?" Betty winked, and handed her a little piece of paper, slipping it casually into her hand. "Call her by lunch. Try to know where she is before anything."

As Betty fixed her things and left, Marceline stood for a few minutes trying to collect herself.

Oh boy.

-/-/-/-

 _Ring, ring, ring._

 _"_ _H-Hello?"_ Bonnie's voice registered through the phone. Her nose seemed stuffy, and she seemed like she had intense chills; so, points for Sae Na for cluing them in on the only reason Bonnibel would ever skip a day of school.

"Bonnibel? This is Marceline…" Breathe in. "I've got some stuff for you, so I was tasked to go over them with you… Maybe not the entirety of everything, since… Uh, are you okay? Stupid question, but…"

 _"_ _I-I've come down with something. It's n-n-n-not contagious so… Do y-you mind dropping by my house later? It'll be easi-ss-sier to work on them here. I really can't go anywhere like this."_

"Why, Bonnibel, is that a proposition? We barely even know one another; I would've figured a first date basis wouldn't be your peg."

A huff comes from the other end of the line.

Marceline smiled, either way. "I'll drop by your house later. Text me your address?"

 _"_ _Sure… W-w-what papers a-are we going to go through?"_ Bonnibel was evidently still trying to keep her voice composed and level despite the stutters arising from the chills (which, obviously made her teeth chitter like crazy). For the most part, she succeeded.

Looking through the filed papers, Marceline suddenly felt a strange flare of… some sort of adrenaline. "Betty handed over some paperwork for the petition. And some very intriguing issues that I think you'd quite enjoy."

Bonnibel hummed, but the peaceful sound was interrupted by a fit of coughs. _"Just get over here ASAP."_

"Alright, Princess. Call you later."

 _"_ _Sure_."

Once the conversation ended, Marceline received a text from Bonnibel.

 _"_ _Parks Residence, Candy Towers, Corner Sugar Rd./Breakfast Rd._

 _Figure you'd know it anyway… See you."_

Marceline just smiled, pocketing her phone as she walked over to her seat where Grey and Keila were, as they looked at her expectantly.

"Do I look like I'm privy to be under some sort of investigation?" Marceline said in jest, raising an eyebrow as she took her seat. "What's with the tension?"

"Well, I dunno. You seemed a bit out of it earlier so Grey and I got worried. I'm thinking something might've lightened up your day, though? Because you've got a little spring back in your step again." Keila said, slightly with an edge but mostly with the point and air of banter. Marceline wasn't sure whether this was more of an accusation than anything, but she shrugged.

"I don't know what you're getting at, but really it's nothing."

"Okay, Marce. Whatever you say." Keila said, dismissing it a lot easier than she expected.

"Maybe she's a bit happier because she doesn't have to deal with Princess today?" Grey suggested. "I know I'm glad she's not around. She still peeves me."

Feeling a bit bitter over the small statement, Marceline hissed. "Why are you so salty towards Bonnie? First of all, my mood has nothing to do with her," Well, that's partly a lie, "and if you're feeling bitter over things that happened years ago, I honestly thought you guys would've gotten over that."

Keila and Grey looked at each other, unsure of what to say. "Dude… Well, whatever. You know we're joking…" Keila said as she looked a little bit more on the confused-irritated spectrum, and Grey just sat there, eating away, looking a bit guilty. "Anyway, what're those?"

"Just some paperwork that I'll be bringing to Bonnie later." She stuffed the papers in order as she placed it into her backpack. "She'll need to look through them. Being sick doesn't excuse her from being High Chancellor, sadly. And I've got to ask her about class."

Keila scoffed, but at that point, Marceline just wanted to block her out. They meant well, sure, but Marceline thought, if their vendetta from a petty high school war hasn't gone down, then lunch period couldn't end soon enough.

-/-/-/-

Statistics was her last period for the day.

Frieda just settled with fixing some papers, as Marceline settled to her seat, staring off into Bonnie's seat until she remembered that the girl wouldn't be arriving that day due to some unexpected ill. She focused on her notebook before the professor tapped onto her desk to call their attention, taking note of everyone's attendance as she scanned the room.

"Bonnibel Park isn't here?" she asked.

Finn suddenly came to attention, looking around, as if only being made aware that Bonnibel wouldn't be arriving anytime soon. He looked a little put out by the idea but he just let loose easy after, probably reminding himself that he shouldn't impale his presence and thought into another person of interest while he is involved with someone else. Though, there were probably other thoughts lingering about, but Marceline didn't want to have to grumble, overthink, and be upset over such trivialities.

Frieda, though, looked quite disappointed. Perhaps she took these things as a personal affront. "Does anyone know where Bonnibel is? It's not like her to miss class…"

As Finn tried to give some sort of snarky reply to it (or perhaps even something highly incorrigible), Marceline spoke first.

"I called her a little while ago, and she said she's caught some sort of ill. I'll pass along any work that you need for her if you need me to pass the word; I'll be bringing it with some paperwork and stuff for another subject."

Finn looked close to being incensed (for reasons Marceline could only wonder why – really, she didn't know where he was coming from), but Frieda looked absolutely delighted (or relieved, really); she got up to begin some pointers on how to handle the use of some data, and giving minor suggestions on where they go in some other topics and formulas. Marceline was mostly paying attention to all of it, keeping tabs and taking notes while she was writing some song on another notebook.

Equation after equation, stating the important of things such as significant differences and standard deviations, Frieda came to give a set to work on.

"I'll call three people at random to show me how they made these problems work."

Silence dawned in class, but Marceline merely fidgeted with her pen, after scribbling and taking down everything into her calculator. Everyone else was visibly uncomfortable; well, everyone except Jake, who was basically just twirling around some toy in his hand. Finn looked frantic and unsure, but he looked well enough to say he was trying. It appeared that Phoebe was also at work, but seeing how she normally is, Marceline doubted that it'd be any difficult for her. Without much ado, she was able to finish, and taking note of everyone else, it seemed alright enough for Frieda to call on them any moment at that point.

"Alright… So, let's start! I'm calling… Abadeer, Dela Fuego, and Mertens."

Marceline wasn't too fazed; Phoebe didn't seem to mind, either. Finn, though? He was in outright panic, if his demeanor was any giveaway to it.

They all got to the board and did the short rundown of how they handled the data, with Marceline having to handle the area where there were minor cracks on the whiteboard. Finn was seemingly tense, unsure of what he was doing. The moment of truth was one that you couldn't deny, though. Marceline and Phoebe both finished, but he was still scribbling and trying to go through everything.

"Finn… It's okay, we can just assess it now…" the professor said, trying to calm down the slightly panicking boy. He probably felt a tad stupid at that moment, but Marceline couldn't help but make fun of him in her head. Very mean of her, sure, but she had her reasons. The way her gut dropped at his defeated face made the guilt sink in, though. He smiled, nonetheless.

"I guess I'm really stupid with this stuff," he admitted. He looked over to Marceline, probably to jest about how they would've gone down together, but he shut up once he saw that she had a perfectly made working equation and set of answers. He couldn't say much after the "Oh" that escaped his mouth.

The little pride of victory and the pang of guilt Marceline had as she sat down confused her, but she let it be.

-/-/-/-

"Marceline," Frieda said, handing her the set of papers meant for Bonnibel for the subject, "Please hand these over to Bonnibel. Thanks for telling me about earlier, it really eased my anxiety." And a strange strangled-sounding laugh escaped from the tiny woman, Marceline had to hold her own laughter in, as it would've been rude to laugh at the older woman's strange noises. But it couldn't be helped to find the joys in life painfully hard to admit.

Taking the papers and stuffing them along with the files in her bag, she waved a salute to the professor's way and headed out to the door.

Surprisingly, Finn Mertens was at the door, somehow expecting her.

"Hey." He said, smiling, pensive.

"Hey-low." Marceline responded, raising a brow. "Do you have any business to discuss with me, hero-boy?"

He shook his head, but anyway, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Phoebe was just tapping away at the phone by his side, probably ignoring everything going on.

"I was wondering…" He started, "if I could go to Bonnie's house with you? To maybe see to the papers."

Phoebe snapped to attention, obviously not having discussed such a thing with him earlier on. "What did you say?"

"I honestly don't know? She didn't invite you, so I don't see what the point of you coming along for the ride is. There's no point at all to it so… Why?" Marceline was visibly annoyed as well, as she just raised a brow his way to add in the response. When he no longer explained himself, obviously looking as if he wouldn't budge, Marceline sighed and just stepped away from him, going into the carpark.

"Wait, Marceline!" Finn called, suddenly being tugged by the arm by Phoebe.

Marceline barely heard them, but she heard Phoebe demanding answers to… whatever. She had other matters to attend to.

-/-/-/-

The drive was quiet for her, as she directed her car further into town, a few subdivisions away from hers. It would probably be something she should be acquainted to, but of course she would know that the trees stood taller than she would ever remember them. She probably shouldn't remember it all too well, but she knew where she was heading as she maneuvered the car to some intersection, where a tall building stood. The complex house that would probably ring true to her memories came upon her.

The Park's Residence was the one building of Candy Towers that belonged exclusively to one family, as it stood within the crossroad, with the other "towers" separate from the building, but within the same lot. Marceline thought that after many years, Bonnibel would've moved away from it at this point, but really the entire lot was her family's property. When Marceline used to live in one of the apartment complexes with her mother, she saw the Park's part of the place more like a dream – and playing with Bonnibel back then was an added bonus. But after everything, she would've thought she knew better about the Parks.

Putting the car to a halt by the carpark, she bounded off to the gate.

The gruff little guard looked her way, a little brow raised.

"Hi, um…" Marceline began. "I got something to deliver to Bonnibel Park?"

"Give me an ID." The morose little being behind the counter grumbled.

Complying, Marceline waited as he arranged some sort of order into the IDs, giving her a visitor's tag. As he was doing things, the label on the guard's uniform made Marceline laugh. Years on, the Parks still employed the Banana Security Agency to guard the Candy Towers– the one agency that had a stupid Banana icon strapped by the vest.

Chuckling to herself as she was done with the guardhouse, she entered the premises and approached the big white building with chocolate-y décor. Some features that weren't there were evidently staring right at her face, as she took a little bit of liberty into tapping into a voice receiver.

"Hello? I'm here for Bonnibel." She said, as it was soon processed to be heard through the house.

As soon as three minutes, a little man with greying red hair came for the door.

"Hello. Who might you be, Miss?"

It was Piper. Marceline blinked a few times, seeing that the man had seemingly defied aging for the most part.

"I'm… I'm Marceline. Like… Uh, you know…" She started to be a little nervous. She never knew how to handle him when she was younger. She was half-sure he hated her.

"Hm?" Piper raised a brow. "Marceline Everett Jones?"

Marceline nodded. "I go by Marceline Everett Abadeer now. I took my dad's name. I live with him now." She rubbed her arm, as she suddenly felt conscious of past acquaintanceship.

He grunted and motioned for her to follow him. It was mostly uncomfortable silence, the way he dealt with her, but more or less she managed. The silence was broken with Piper's slightly unsettling formality mixing with calculated familiarity, "Miss Abadeer, what brings you to the Park's Residence? To visit Bonnibel, even. It's been, what, over a decade or so. Might be close to two, since you're… nineteen now, I think?"

"I'm twenty now, Piper," Marceline said, forcing her own politeness into the equation. "I have some work to discuss with Bonnibel from school."

Piper smiled slightly, which was more than enough to inject a tad bit of fear into Marceline's bloodstream for whatever reason. The tiny man held mysteries that she hoped to never really encounter (and should she, ever, she would hope to avoid and eventually just ignore). They stopped to a door that appeared rather familiar to her, and as Piper opened the door, Marceline sucked in a little breath to maybe hold in nostalgia as much as she can.

Looking around was the pink wonderland she knew, albeit with a little bit of peeling wallpaper along with some new posters of scientific jargon and nerdy fandom things.

Piper cleared his throat, to call the attention of Bonnibel, who was seemingly having a hard time trying to type something in her screen. "Here we are. Miss Park, this girl is finally here to—"

"Oh… It's Marceline. Hey." And Bonnibel squinted back at her screen, typing a little faster, and putting her phone down, and settling back into the sheets to maybe rest her ailing head. Marceline felt a sudden vibration, suddenly knowing that there was a notification. "You can go now, Piper. Thanks."

Piper took his leave and closed the door behind him, but Marceline was still unsure of where to really rest, as she just stood there being hyperaware of everything. She did think, though, to look at her phone.

The notification was apparently from Bonnibel.

 _/_

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _I feel so sick, egh. Sorry for not replying earlier… I've got something to do for now, but I'll talk to you later? *sadface*"_

/

/

Marceline held back a smile as she pocketed her device. Bonnibel was close to dozing off, but she went back to some sort of cough fit.

"Are you sure that isn't contagious, Princess? You look like you need to be quarantined." Marceline teased.

"You coward. You're just trying to step away from work…" And Bonnie, in fact, really did look like she was going to pass out any time soon. Marceline decided maybe just leaving the paperwork would be better.

"I can just leave the papers here if you'd like… Go sleep."

Bonnibel looked a little conflicted as Marceline said that, a little bit more alert. Rubbing at her eyes and trying to be more awake, she waved for Marceline to come closer to her.

"Sit at the stool, and hand me some pap-p-pers… I'd r-r-really like to get some work done."

Marceline frowned at that but did as she was told.

"You're going to exhaust yourself over if you work despite being sick." Marceline muttered, remembering a callout post she made for Bonnie a little while back. Bonnie softened at that, but she still refused to give in to it, as she went through the papers anyway.

"Okay, Bonnie?"

"Hm?"

"You're going to exhaust yourself over if you work too much."

"Mhmm…"

Marceline sighed, finally scooting closer to Bonnibel.

"I'll help you with the petition, and we'll have a short discussion on our homework, but you got to promise me you'll get some rest over this."

Bonnibel looked like she wanted to argue but she didn't really say anything. She just sighed and gave her little nod. It was as much as an approval that Marceline needed.

"But first…" Marceline added, as she checked on Bonnibel's temperature, putting the back of her hand to the redhead's forehead. "Jesus. You're really fucking hot."

"Gee, thanks. I like to think I'm attractive too." Bonnie joked, though she started coughing right after. "But really, what's up with all this concern? I'm fine, really."

Marceline was going to say _hey, you kind of matter a lot to me at this point because I have a minor crush on you when we talk online_ but she bit it back because that would definitely have been the wrong to say at that moment. At any moment. At all. "You're my partner in one of my classes, and I don't know. Figured I might as well show some human decency."

Bonnibel was going to say something, but Marceline got up.

"Where are you going?" The sick girl asked, terribly confused.

"I'm just going to get you some water. And some medicines. Maybe an ice pack. And probably a bucket, because I have a feeling you'll need another one," and she accentuated that one with pointing to a bucket by Bonnibel's bed. "I think I'll be taking it out." And she prompted to take it.

Bonnibel was a bit shocked, but nodded anyway. "Thanks… You know where everything is? Not much has changed since we were kids, but maybe you've forgotten."

"Hmmm… I might get lost, but I was more curious as to why Piper hasn't gone around to doing everything I'm about to do."

"He's busy taking care of Neddy."

"I see…" And she took off to do as she said she would.

Marceline was wondering why she was doing it, but she was happy to do so anyway.

 _/-/-/_

 _Marceline and Bonnibel were lying down on the floor of the redhead's room. The pink was still pristine back then. The wallpapers were intact, and the walls were not yet superimposed with the various posters that were switched and occasionally tacked over with time._

 _"_ _Bonnie! Look!" Marceline smiled, as setting aside Hambo on top of Timmy. The cat just sprawled lazily, probably caring less about the moment and wanting to avoid being near the five year-old. She put up this little drawing she made of the two of them._

 _Bonnibel remained quiet, smiling. She put Timmy on her lap._

 _"_ _In this totally new universe, I could be Rockstar Girl and you would be Lollipop Girl! Like in the show! And we could have these shirts…" And Marceline kept on drawing on. "Like this!"_

 _She showed Bonnie a picture of a design of a band shirt that she thought of. "There's a snake and a marshmallows! And it'll be cool! Rockstar Girl will be in this really cool band!" She smiled a bit smugly, and Bonnibel took her hand. Innocence of a four year-old, really._

 _"_ _It's really cool! I want a shirt just like that."_

 _"_ _I'll make you one when we get older."_

 _Bonnibel beamed at that and gave her a hug._

 _Those were one of the days._

-/-/-/-

With Bonnibel resting and mostly equipped with the things a sick person normally needs, Marceline found herself explaining the things in statistics to Bonnie as she lay, but she knew that Bonnie already knew what the concept was. She would probably be able to do everything for the entire semester, but she was still adamant to have things explained and clarified to her. The petition, though, was something they decided to really work on. Bonnie found it more difficult with its deeply political nature. As good as she was with that, the conflict that could come was already evident with how the student body is, in contrast to the supervising authority.

Putting down the papers, Bonnie sighed. "This is…"

"We can put it down first if you want…" Marceline whispered.

"The reason… You do know why the board is open to the removal of these, right?" Bonnibel said, almost radiating with a bit of the frustration she's had over the petition for as long as she's known about it. "Because I just kind of clued it together."

"Why? Tell me."

"The government budget is cutting down on everything, amidst all this political nightmare that we already have. They're cutting down against the educational and artistic sector for more… armed pursuits."

Marceline remained quiet. She reached out to hold Bonnie's hand.

"Let's not talk about this right now. I'll try to bring my dad into it later on, if you want me to. But you need something less stressful for the meanwhile." She urged. Bonnie looked at her, clearly flushed from the action. Or perhaps it was because she was sick. Marceline was wondering which one she'd prefer.

Coughing, Bonnibel covered her mouth with her free hand. She still held onto Marceline's.

"Thanks."

Then came a strange sense of stillness.

After a bit of silence though, Marceline smiled. "Let's talk about the thing we've got to do for debate class?"

Bonnibel let out a sigh of relief. "That'll be good, thanks."

Everything was easy talk after that, and as things went by. Bonnibel retired later on as she had exhaustion seep into her bones. As Marceline left and drove on her way home, she still found herself thinking about the way Bonnie's hand felt in hers.

She also thought about how Bonnie didn't let go.


	8. Kinetic Energy

CHAPTER 7 – Kinetic Energy

She didn't know what to expect from all the time she's been spending in Bonnie's house. Would it really have made any difference if they were to do their work elsewhere? But Bonnibel was adamant on keeping their work within her house. She stressed that "rules haven't changed much," and it had Marceline wondering whether it was any good, but she figured practices for any form of speech would be done best indoors and not anywhere where they would be interrupted by something unpleasant. Or whatever. Marceline still didn't know whether she liked the arrangement, either way, but there she was lying on the floor by Bonnie's bed, reading two weeks' worth of news, and willing herself to get through several other articles on whatever laid on the floor.

"Hold on, I gotta do something," Bonnibel muttered, as she left the room for probably the fourth or fifth time for the past hour and a half.

The first day that she and Bonnie did this matter loading thing, she was a bit put off by the behavior, but she realized that every time that Bonnie left the room, Marceline would receive a notification from Tumblr saying that she received a message from, well, Bonnie. The redhead would not return after around two or three more messages sent between the two of them, with her saying that she would be back after some more work.

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

" _I'm really sleepy, but I have to keep on working. Is that bad? Like, my partner is here and I don't want to just stop and kick her out._

 _I mean, I won't, like, she's good company and all. But how do I say… like, 'Hey, wanna take a nap break like we're still in Pre-K or something? Because I'm really sleep but we could totally work after such a powernap.'"_

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

" _*sleepy_

 _I'm really sleep could work too. But. I'm really sleep. Sleep."_

 _/_

Marceline smiled despite herself.

/

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"I'm sure she won't mind. Think of it this way: If you, the workaholic Chancellor with an impossibly intense drive to finish everything, feel the need to take a nap… what more for your partner?"

/

She heard Bonnibel chuckle a bit from the other room. Well, she seemed to have found that amusing; nice. Marceline tucked her phone back into her pocket as she heard Bonnie walking back into the room, a bit hyperaware, and realizing that she was probably tired, herself.

"So…" Bonnie began.

"So…?" Marceline drawled expectantly.

"Uh… Wanna have, uh… Hm." Bonnie was definitely thinking about it too hard. She started scrunching up her nose. It was cute, really. Marceline gave her that.

Marceline lied down on the floor, probably creasing up and ruining the papers scattered up underneath her. Bonnie looked a little bit confused (and disgruntled) but she let out a little yawn, the weariness being more evident than she probably wanted to show.

"Bonnie, wanna play a game?"

Bonnibel sat down next to where Marceline lay, folding her legs underneath her and putting her hands on her lap. She regarded Marceline warily, narrowing her eyes a tad bit as if to show some sort of distrust – but it didn't seem like she could convince herself that Marceline was up to no good, so she just let out a sigh. "What kind of game are we talking?"

"Like… I dunno. Twenty questions? Or like, truth or dare or something." Marceline drawled, twirling a lock of her hair. "Anything to take a break from this…" She stressed, waving a hand around the warzone of papers that was Bonnibel's bedroom floor. Soon enough, with the break of time from the paperwork, Marceline thought she would be able to lure the girl away and off into sleep. Not the best method, but at least they got to talking.

Seeing the scowl on Bonnibel's face, Marceline was wondering whether she struck a nerve, but the other girl yawned again, and nodded in agreement, giving a smile her way. "Sure. Truth or dare seems right by me. But how will we work this out? Like, there's no bottle and there's just the two of us."

Marceline hummed thoughtfully. "Do you still have that deck of cards I gave you before I left Candy Towers? I know you probably don't but—"

"The ones from Greece?" Bonnibel said, the sleepiness slowly going away. "Yeah, they're somewhere here… Wait…"

Marceline blinked. It actually has been ages since she gave them – probably twelve or thirteen years ago – but Bonnie began looking through this little drawer by the corner. The pink one with the faded edges, with some indents that Marceline slightly remembers. With a little bit of rummaging, Bonnibel finally brought out a deck of cards, in a bit more of a pristine condition than she thought it would be.

"Yeah, here they are…" Bonnie went to shuffling the deck. "The ones with the Philosophers, right?" And picking up a card, the Joker, Bonnie showed the other side.

Sappho. Figures. Marceline thought this should've been some joke on her sexuality that Bonnibel did not entirely get – and considering the situation, she was not sure whether she wanted Bonnibel to really get it at all.

"These ones, right?" Bonnie inquired as she settled down again.

"Yep," Marceline answered, popping the 'p'. "Didn't think they'd last this long… it isn't even dusty."

"I like to keep my things clean." Bonnibel murmurmed. Marceline would've believed her, if not for the perpetual state of disarray her room was in. The wallpapers were _peeling_ , and there were probably some things left uninspected throughout all those drawers. There were probably molds growing in certain parts of the room, which Piper really should get to. She didn't comment though, because she knew better. She didn't want to seem like she was hoping for anything. It was probably nothing, right? It's just a trinket from years ago.

"Mhmm…" Marceline said instead, a little bit sing-song.

"What're we supposed to do with these?"

"Well… If you pick an even card, you get a truth; an odd is a dare. One counts as an odd. King, Queen, and Jack counts as both truth and dare." She made up the rules, but she thought it might work.

"What about if I get the Joker?"

"Well… Since it is Sappho," Marceline smirked, taking the deck and shuffling it a bit nervously, unsure whether she was really supposed to be saying the stupid joke, "and there's like, two out of fifty-four chances of you getting one in the first turn, I think we could do something teenagers do – something that Sappho herself will be proud of. The chances get higher throughout the game, but it's still unlikely." Ah, the gambler's sin.

Bonnibel's face flushed, and Marceline decided she liked that. "Marceline!"

"Woah, princess, how far did your mind go?" And she couldn't stop the fit of laughter that took hold of her. "I meant… Like, a kiss or something. Just to jolt you up. Nothing extreme. Just to make sure this mutual distaste knocks us over. Nothing much of it." And shouldn't it have been just that? Marceline was betting that she wouldn't have to do anything, but Bonnibel just nodded, to her disbelief.

"Yeah, sure. Let's do this."

"For serious? I was thinking you wouldn't be too into it." And she was still wide-eyed, floundering for words. "You don't have to— I mean, like..."

"Wow, is the great and unbothered Marceline Abadeer backing out from a challenge?" Bonnibel dared airily. "If this was all it took to get you on your toes, I really should've figured. Straight girls, really. Never owning up to their word."

Bonnibel slapped a hand over her mouth as Marceline blushed red up to her neck, the olive skin somehow giving way to an oddly obvious flush. "How dare you! That should speak volumes for you—" And she paused, realizing what Bonnibel might have let slip.

Marceline merely smiled, slightly having recovered, and shuffled the deck again. "Shall we get started?"

The redhead shook herself and patted her cheeks as if to prep herself for what was to happen, but then she took out her phone and started typing again. It alarmed Marceline a bit, so she proceeded to turn her phone on silent.

In good way with her haste, she saw that Bonnibel sent a message to RED.

/

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

" _My partner has elected to have us play a silly game, and I accidentally outed/implied that I'm not straight. Pray I'll get out alive. And that I can get a nap in the process. Please."_

 _/_

Marceline smiled a bit as she pocketed her phone, but looked up to look at Bonnibel, who was staring down at the floor space between them. She was definitely nervous, but accidental coming outs would do that.

Shuffling the deck for the millionth time, she offered for Bonnie to take a card from the deck.

"You first?"

Taking a card out of the middle of the deck, Bonnibel sighed nervously, showing Marceline a four of spades. "Please be kind."

Marceline pointed at her, basically having thought of the question for Bonnibel for _years._

"Why do you think is Sappho put on the deck as the Joker?"

Brows furrowing, Bonnie looked as if she was overthinking things. As usual. "Maybe because of the overt sexism in Greek society, even and _especially_ among the Philosophers. Maybe they took Sappho as some sort of joke? I'm not sure why they'd put it on some modern deck of cards that was meant as a tourist trinket though. Greece could only offer me so many answers."

"That is an excellent theory, Miss Park." And with a grin, Marceline handed the deck into Bonnie's hands, as the other girl eyed her warily.

"O-kay… Pick a card, Abadeer."

Marceline took one from the bottom, grinning. "Ace. Hearts."

"I dare you to let me send something to anyone in your phone."

"Wow," she breathed. "Nothing too scandalous, alright Bonnibel?" She removed notifications and other such stuff first before handing the phone to Bonnie, knowing full well the risk she was taking. Either with Bonnie snooping enough for Tumblr to pop up, or with Bonnie doing something incredibly risqué.

Instead, she found Bonnibel scooting closer. "Take a picture with me first."

Complying with the request, Marceline did as she was told, watching Bonnibel send the photo to herself.

"Why?" Marceline asked, more confused than anything else.

"I couldn't think of anything, so be grateful I didn't ask you to do something stupid."

"Like what?"

"Like, I dunno, stripping and wearing your clothes on backwards or whatever."

"I could totally do that, you know. Try me."

"Please don't." Bonnibel was red as a tomato. "I just thought it'd be good to use one as a contact photo or something. Let it be, and just shuffle the cards." She handed the cards back.

Marceline was barking with laughter but she complied. As Bonnie took the card, she did shoot another glare at Marceline. "Ten of hearts."

Gauging the situation was difficult, but Marceline wanted the question out of the way. "Hmm… dearest Bonnibel, you mentioned something about straight girls? I'm going to ask this right off, are you not straight? And—"

"Ah, ah, ah. Only one question at a time, Abadeer. Take time in choosing your question." Bonnibel warned, shifting a bit from her seat.

"Alright," Marceline breathed, shifting the cards to and from her left hand and her right. "Are you gay or what?"

"I'm… ah. Yeah. I'm a lesbian." The redhead said, waving her hand about. "I should be more open about it, really, but who cares? I'm in college now and petty sexuality issues should be left behind once the angst age is out of my system – like, people are more than their sexualities and shouldn't be identified just by that. But I still get conscious, I guess."

"Didn't you date Finn?" Marceline added.

Partially ignoring the fact that she's been pressing for more truths, Bonnibel indulged Marceline. "First of all, it was like a test for the waters. He was sweet but it pretty much confirmed that I didn't like boys romantically, or sexually. Second, that implies the 'golden lesbian' rhetoric, and honestly that is biphobic in nature and severely damaging for both those who have finally come into terms with their sexuality, and those who still haven't."

Marceline smiled, suddenly prideful and a little more than happy over Bonnibel's response. So she wasn't all too fond when Bonnie dated Finn, sure. Hearing that was like some sort of petty victory, and she knew deep down she should have scolded herself for it, but she let it be.

"Thank you for your marvelous speech, Bon."

"Are you?"

Marceline blinked. "Am I what?"

"Straight."

And again, for the nth time that day, Marceline started cackling. "What do you think, Princess?"

Bonnibel kept glaring at her. "Just answer the question, because you're severely undetectable under my gaydar, and I was hoping to prove a point."

"I'm bi." Marceline answered, still laughing a bit lightly. "I've been into girls for like, forever. Boys too, of course, but you get me."

"I get you," and Bonnibel laughed, sounding relieved more than anything. With that came a yawn that she was probably holding in for quite some time. "I'm really tired… but heck, one last round. Your turn to pick, Marce." She just held out the deck of cards for Marceline to pick out from.

When Marceline did, she buried her hands onto her face. "Um. Bon?"

"Yes?" Bonnie said, looking at her.

Before the redhead could do anything, she found herself with Marceline slowly inching over and leaning quite close to her.

"I, uh. I kind of picked out Sappho," Marceline whispered, showing the card. "Do you still think this is a good idea? Because I can like, stop."

With a million thoughts racing in her head, Bonnie sighed and leaned in.

It was just a little kiss, but then it progressed to… a little more.

It wasn't rough, but maybe it was a little knock-your-socks-off. But it wasn't anything beyond what a first time kiss would've been.

It was innocent – very innocent. Something that could've bud into something more, but not in a deliberately unwholesome manner.

It was not something that either didn't want. It was definitely something they would have tried again – but all that was left was for them to pull away, and as much as they felt like couldn't face the embarrassment, they just couldn't stop looking at each other – just an inch or two away – unsure of what to say.

/-/-/

" _Bonnie!" Marceline said, ringing the doorbell several times, and knocking on the door incessantly. "Bonnie!"_

 _Piper opened the door, scowl in place. Obviously, he was all sorts of annoyed, but he didn't want to risk losing face. Not towards Bonnibel's best friend. "Marceline. To what do we owe this pleasure of your visit?"_

 _Marceline looked really uncomfortable, but Piper realized it wasn't really her usual demeanor of unease with him._

" _Come on now, Miss Marceline. Will you be meeting Miss Park upstairs?"_

" _Yes, but…" Marceline was almost stuck rooted on where she stood. "I'm scared, Piper."_

" _What's wrong, now? You know I'm not going to hurt you or tell you off to your mother, Marceline." Piper knelt anyway, settling for a gentle tone, to meet the gaze of the little girl. "You just came from your trip to Greece. Bonnibel has been waiting, you know."_

 _Marceline was close to tears, and she couldn't help it. She just wanted to cry._

" _Do you really want Bonnibel to see you crying?" The red-haired man said. "She wouldn't want to see you sad." He offered her a little handkerchief; one with a peppermint candy design. "And look, I don't know why you're sad and bawling, on the way to Bonnibel's doorstep but…"_

 _Marceline started dabbing the cloth at her eyes, trying to stop the waterfall. She was evidently trying to hold in whatever it was, and Piper felt something in him hurt as well._

" _There there now, Marceline," he said, patting her head. "Let's go."_

 _A little bit torn with his decision to do so, Piper let out a hand. "Come on. Don't want you getting lost now."_

 _Marceline was also a bit shocked at the offer, having already known Piper's dislike towards her, but she took his hand nonetheless, wiping out her tears with the other. She put down the handkerchief to check into her pockets, to make sure that her gift – her farewell gift – to Bonnibel was there._

 _In retrospect, Marceline shouldn't have had to cry about leaving the apartment, but she knew the fact that she was moving away made it definite that she would come close to never seeing Bonnibel as often as she'd like. Knowing it'd be further away from the Candy Towers would've made it difficult to see her at all – the Parks never wanted Bonnibel too far, after all. Marceline's mother hated even the idea of Marceline ever interacting with the Parks. Maybe that should've changed as she grew up._

 _But at the front of Bonnibel's door, Piper let go of Marceline's hand._

" _Here we are, Miss Marceline."_

 _With a brave face, Marceline opened the door._

 _Bonnibel was reading a book by her desk, preoccupied with something new. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her friend._

" _Marceline?"_

 _Marceline reached into her pocket and gave her the deck of cards, pulling on the other girl for her to come closer._

" _So… I'm leaving Candy Towers." She said that, trying to hold back tears. Goddamn, she was already eight years old. She shouldn't cry over things like this. But she was there, holding back tears. "My momma found a different place to work in, and she said I might finally meet my dad… I don't know if I really wanna meet him."_

 _Bonnie looked torn. Sad. The implication of that was that they would probably not be able to hang out anymore. But she gave Marceline a warm smile, anyway. "That's okay. Maybe you'll be able to visit though?" Hopeful. That's what Bonnibel was like. Marceline felt guilty thinking about it._

" _You know my mom doesn't like it when I go," Marceline said, with as much conviction as an eight year old could give. "But I will try to sneak out and find my way back. I promise."_

 _She gave Bonnie a peck on the forehead, and they heard a honking from the outside._

 _Piper walked up to Bonnibel's room._

" _Marceline, your mother is here to fetch you." He looked grim._

 _And Marceline was back to wanting to cry. She left though, leaving a smile Bonnie's way._

" _Don't worry, Bon. Maybe when we're older, I'll even have that shirt you've always wanted made. You know, Rockstar Girl and Lollipop Girl. In Weekend City."_

 _Bonnie smiled._

 _But she was left to her room._

 _All by herself._

 _Well… There goes her very first friend._

 _She didn't know what to make of it, but… She knew it made her very, very sad._

-/-/-/-

Marceline was on Bonnibel's bed, looking over as the other girl slept right next to her.

She looked serene and at peace. Marceline was sure it'd be different once she woke up. She reveled in the moment, though.

They elected to just go to sleep after everything, as they weren't really sure how to strike up a conversation. Bonnibel was stuttering over not wanting Marceline to sleep on the floor. For a while, she was trying to be distant. It only came out as fluster and uncertainty in how to approach each other.

Marceline found it cute, but didn't know how to decipher it. It would probably damage the recently renewed contact they had, but it was enjoyable for the first few moments it passed.

She was almost about to find some sleep, when Bonnibel stirred.

"Hm? Bonnibel? You alright? Didn't think a kiss would totally devastate your current state of mind." She whispered, half scared that her voice would actually just wake the other girl. "I, uh… It was a stupid dare. I'm so sorry."

Bonnie turned over and gave her a weird expression.

"Well, Marceline, I don't know what to say."

"Same here."

"I expected it to be really bad—"

"I will try to not to be offended with that."

"Okay, okay— just listen. Like, uh, I expected it to be really bad but…"

"But?"

"I mean, it was actually really good. Really nice, actually. I mean, but like—"

"So many interjections."

"Shut up! I mean— while I did find kissing you enjoyable, I like someone else so I really don't want you to get the wrong idea."

Ah, what a sudden jab to her heart, but Marceline maintained her composure.

"Ah, and who could have charmed the ever elusive and wonderful Bonnibel Park?" She said, with a dark glint to her eyes.

Bonnibel looked at her, confused, looking as if she found something out, but she shook her head, chasing the idea away.

"I like this girl who goes by the pseudonym Red. She's just this internet person and it's stupid but she's sweet and— and— don't you dare tell anyone anything that's happened today! Ugh, this is so embarrassing." And she was just hiding her face in her hands.

Marceline just looked at her, also suddenly floored, but with the knowledge that she shouldn't say anything of the matter. It gave her a mix of guilt and… something else.

"I won't tell a soul."

Bonnie looked at her, still hiding behind her hands.

"Promise?"

Marceline grinned.

"Promise."


	9. Acceleration Pt1

Acceleration Pt. 1

 _Ash tried to hold her hand again, but Marceline kept moving it away._

 _It wasn't as if she really detested him_ _ **that**_ _bad; it was just really awkward and uncomfortable. His palms were sweaty and his cologne was too off-putting. He was nice enough to lend her his jacket whenever she got cold, and he even bought her pizza (even though it was really oily and pretty much tasted like cardboard). He wasn't a bad guy… It's just that he didn't quite have the charm that she thought a boyfriend would've needed. Maybe that's what she sort of liked about him though… The fact that he tried at all. Maybe it was just tolerance, but hey, he was really nice._

 _"_ _Hey, uh, MarMar…" Ash said, sliding his hands into his pockets._

 _Marceline snapped to attention, looking at the boy in question._

 _"_ _What's up?"_

 _"_ _Why is it that you never hold my hand?"_

 _Marceline rolled her eyes and kept walking, heading off to her house, not stopping until she reached the gates that held the words ABADEER'S RESIDENCE in some swirly and elegant design up high._

 _"_ _Marceline!"_

 _"_ _What?!" She said, almost screeching. She didn't want this discussion again._

 _"_ _Why?" Ash pleaded. "You never even let me do anything. No kisses, no hugs. Heck, you won't even let me hold your hand. I'm barely a boyfriend to you."_

 _Frustrated, Marceline pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking what she was about to say through._

 _"_ _You knew very well that despite the fact that you feel very strongly for me, I cannot quite reciprocate it. I thought I said to give it time. You know I'm not good with dates."_

 _"_ _You dated Grey, though." Ash muttered bitterly. "That turned out fine."_

 _"_ _Yes, but he and I never did much too. And he didn't act like this, and we ended up as friends just fine without any hostility."_

 _"_ _Are you just outright afraid to be intimate or something? Is there something I'm missing in all of this?" He snarled, as if challenging her._

 _Marceline hissed, and just turned to knock at the gates, pressing by the receiver, addressing the guard. "Bongo, let me in."_

 _The gates opened, and as Ash tried to follow Marceline into the property, she aimed to just shut it in front of his face. Confused as he was, he still tried to counter it by holding his hand against it, pushing it open. The guard did not like what was happening, suddenly being alert at the alarming action._

 _"_ _Marceline, what are you, some dyke? Won't put out? Can't you take a hint? I want to do something with you, and not just be some placeholder—"_

 _"_ _Goddammit, Ash! Can't you take a hint?!"_

 _Ash froze in place, clenching his fists by his side._

 _"_ _I don't want to be with you. I'm really not comfortable and you're really pushing it. So please stop, and leave me alone. It's over."_

 _"_ _You fucking dyke!"_

 _Pushing past the gate, Ash pulled onto Marceline, attempting to smother her in some sort of kiss. Sadly for him, Marceline was able to kick him where it counts, sending him sprawling byon the ground._

 _Bongo "assisted" him into his departure, and though in the beginning Ash was angrier and couldn't care less, when Bongo warned him that Marceline's father would very well hear about his rotten behavior, the boy started sweating bullets._

 _Marceline just wanted to rest. It was way too emotionally draining having to deal with him._

 _"_ _Marceline, are you alright?" Bongo said, as he returned to her aide._

 _"_ _Just… It's so exhausting dealing with boys, Bongo." Marceline sighed._

 _"_ _Then just tell them you're not interested."_

 _"_ _What makes you think I haven't?"_

 _Bongo remained silent, probably preparing himself for whatever Marceline might be letting out._

 _"_ _I mean— Ash was just a step too far, you know? I told him I'm not interested in that shit. But maybe there is something wrong with me." She grunted. "I've kissed girls before. Heck, Grey was kind of okay, and it was sweet for a while until we settled that platonic love was actually a great denominator in it. But then here comes someone pushing it is so annoyingly… argh!"_

 _Bongo just nodded to opening the door for Marceline._

 _"_ _Your dad will hear about this, right?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. I might as well tell."_

* * *

Marceline woke up with guilt weighing down on her shoulders.

Well. That wasn't exactly new, but it was also not the same kind of guilt that caught her by the throat in the morning. Rather than the ominous guilt she had every morning (cue: existential angst for breakfast, with a side of chocolate milk), she knew there was an add-on with a specific redhead in mind.

 _/_

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _Hey Red. c:_

 _My first debate is today, and I'm so excited. Nervous too, of course, but you get me. I've been raving about it for a while now, haven't I? But my partner was actually really good with it, so that's cool. She's been really nice—"_

/

Marceline smiled at that.

Yeah, she's been "nice," meaning Marceline towards Bonnibel lets out her romantic (and/or probably sexual) frustration for Red towards her. Because that's what friends do, right?

Yeah, totally; if being a friend began with essentially catfishing the other which in turn, the other girl – by some strange luck (whatever kind she is yet to know) – turns her into some sort physical outlet for… whatever it was. Whatever Bonnibel's logic was, it really wasn't clear to Marceline. It was probably her fear of unresolved issues or something. What she _did_ know was that it was totally unhealthy.

It started with that one kiss. And then it kept on progressing, every goddamn visit.

She still had a hickey on her neck, and her thoughts revolved on how it wasn't even cold enough to wear a fucking scarf. If the weather got bad, or if she got too sweaty, then the make-up wouldn't hold.

Anyway, she went on to resume with reading Bonnie's message to Red.

The one true recipient that this whole fiasco was meant for. Oh dear.

 _/_

 _"—_ _we've been keeping up with work lately—"_

/

Work. Right.

Marceline wondered if this was some sort of emotional cheating conflict, but it's not like Bonnie was _actually_ dating Red. Red shouldn't even know. Whatever, not like she wasn't being amoral.

 _/_

 _"—_ _we're going to ace this, I know it!"_

/

Everything else that Bonnibel wrote didn't make Marceline feel any better, though they were the more technical setting of the whole partner thing, and the mood hovered around her as she moved into the dining area where her father was somehow reading up on some papers.

Hunson was so into what he was reading that he didn't even register that Marceline had entered the room.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" Hunson said, with a slight jolt. "Marceline, you're up early."

Looking at her watch, Marceline felt a little confused.

"Dad, it's like, peering close to school time. I figured you might've had some stuff to do? You're buried in paper."

Hunson blinked slowly and rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes. "Right… Whoa, I really should've kept track of time."

"You seem really stressed."

"It's nothing, Marceline… Just, a lot of overwhelming things, I suppose."

Seeing that the table was mostly filled with papers and the sink was spotless, Marceline decided to prepare some breakfast for the both of them, only finding peace once she was certain that her father would be eating the food that she left him.

"Bye dad. Don't forget to eat."

He nodded her way, taking his plate closer, and smiling a little. "Thank you. Bye sweetheart…"

* * *

Marceline figured it was probably a bad idea to not take a scarf, because Keila was somehow caught up looking at her by the neck, and probably subjecting her to her scrutiny.

Keila narrowed her eyes and focused on her. "Marceline, why do you have some sort of cover-up by your neck?" she whispered, reaching out to wipe it off.

Marceline tried to swat away the hand, but the damage had been done as Keila was able to wipe away a portion of what was poorly covered.

"Oh my God, girl, you've been holding out on us." Keila laughed. "I know your make-up skills are horrible and all, but damn, to think… To think you'd be hiding… that, I would've thought it was some sort of weird cut, or a huge pimple."

"Shut up," Marceline grouched, obviously antsy. "I don't know how else to hide it, and it is way too warm for a scarf."

The red was immensely creeping up her neck. Marceline really didn't like where this was going.

"What? Is the highly unshakeable Marceline Abadeer flustered?" Keila teased. "C'mon, spill, who is your new romance fancy?"

"No one."

"Oh dear, you know I won't tell?"

"And I promised them I wouldn't tell."

"Whatever you say, sweetie pie," Keila hummed. "Just let me fix the little mess on your neck. I'm sure I can do better than dabbing some random skin tone on you."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes."

"Thanks."

"No pressure." And she winks again.

Oh brother.

* * *

Marceline was starting to have the urge to vomit right before third period began, but she was trying to calm herself down as it really would not help if she suddenly puked mid-debate. Anxiety? What the fuck even was that? She was not an anxious person, nope. She was fine, and despite the constant terribly crude statements thrown her way, she was above mere Neanderthal mumblings. She was Marceline Everett Abadeer and she was going to kill it… probably with a lot of help with her partner. But that's a given. Who would ever win against the ever fair, ever elusive, ever _wonderful_ Bonnibel Park?

Okay, that statement was probably loaded and encouraged by their recent debauched behavior, but the more Marceline thought of it, the better she got a hold of herself.

Fuck.

For the meanwhile, as Bonnibel walked in, Marceline couldn't really take her eyes off of her. She looked pretty stable, but the way she smiled at Marceline was definitely with some sort of edge that made Marceline a bit wary. Bonnibel had her own hickey on her collarbone, covered up by her shirt but… It wasn't necessarily of any help in Marceline's concentration.

"Good morning, Marce." Bonnibel said, giving her a once over. "You look good today. You wore make-up?"

"I had to…" Marceline grumbled. "Someone here definitely has a bite kink."

"More than just one someone." The redhead laughed. Marceline felt a little annoyed at the teasing, but she was caving. Just a little bit. What did hurt though, was the fact that she knew it was all play.

"You seem to be up and at it," Marceline sighed. "Don't you think RED is going to freak out about how you used some girl to be your stress ball?" _Your sexual stress ball._

"I…" Bonnibel blushed. "I don't know. The whole kissing thing was intriguing. So, think of this as an experiment. Once RED is in the picture, we'll completely forget about this."

"Right, right." Marceline laughed. "She'll definitely be thrilled."

"It's just some practice."

"Practice that you enjoy?"

"Shush."

"I don't get you, Bonnibel."

That brought Bonnibel to look straight at Marceline. "Well, I dunno. I enjoy it. Don't you?"

Marceline just sighed. "I guess I do. But don't come crying to me when karma comes fucking you up."

"Oh, as if _you_ won't."

Coming close to her irritation going against her infatuation, she spoke up, "Bonnibel, I have—"

Betty spoke over them, completely oblivious of the current situation between the two girls, probably trying to fix the chaos ensuing among the college students. "Guys, please fix the tables so we'll be able to start today's round."

Bonnibel got into some sort of alert mode, coming close to focusing more than really wanting to argue any further with her teammate.

With a black marker, Betty scribbled down the motion for that day.

"THBT promoting gender diversity in commercials is damaging to the society."

Marceline looked a bit confused, but Bonnie was really onto it. Betty handed them a paper that had the letters "OO" written on it.

"I'm confused… oh." Marceline said, as she looked at the tear of paper. "Opening opposition."

"I'll be the Leader of the Opposition. You'll be the Assistant Leader, if you may." Bonnie said, organizing some papers on desk as they began. Whatever resolve Bonnie had on the previous discussion they had was somehow directed into a different form, immediately prompting Marceline to follow after and assist her partner into the work at hand.

"Fifteen minutes, okay? And then we'll begin."

* * *

As everyone finally settled into their seats, Marceline and Bonnie had their speeches ready.

The opening government's first was so boring, that Bonnie was even close to falling asleep. Marceline was actually taking down notes, and was directing Bonnie into it again. It was working for a bit until they both got a little distracted, concentrating more on each other's lips than anything else.

 _Goddamn it, Bonnibel. Look at my eyes and focus._

"Bonnibel."

"Yes?"

"It's your turn to speak." Marceline muttered, prodding her to go up to podium.

That got Bonnibel to blink a bit and to rise and take her position.

"My side of the house encourages the idea of gender diversity in commercials, and more so highly applauding those who endorse it…

Quite frankly, it is thus found that we are then exposing and derailing certain aspects of conforming to gender stereotypes and we focus greatly on the deconstruction of which eventually we attain a form of equality among them."

The speech went on, and Marceline was stuck there, taking down as much as she can.

After the one with Bonnibel, came some other person not-worthy-of-mentioning. He didn't even do shit, he just stared down into nothingness, as if thinking the words will pop out of his mouth if ever he concentrated hard enough.

Bonnibel was probably way to effective in this case.

The boy puked, though. His nervousness taking some sort of advantage over him. Marceline just looked at him, horrified, thinking that would probably been her if she took that turn already.

"Okay, okay. That's enough…" Betty said, jumping into the situation. "Everybody we'll have to close the match for now," she said with a frown. "It appears you'll still have to take some medical check on that, right?"

The boy nodded weakly.

"Everyone, time to leave the room. We'll have this mess cleaned up."

"But ma'am, the rest of the round…" Bonnie interjected. "We're not supposed to end debates like this.

"Bonnibel, I think it's time to rest." Betty sighed, obviously in a bit torn with the situation. "We'll have to let this boy be…"

Bonnie backed off, and just agreed. Her concern for the boy went up, but she just paused to call the clinic services and had him lifted off of the classroom.

"Well. That was fun," Marceline said. "I'd honestly have passed out too, but… You did well, Bonnie."

"Thanks. I can't believe I obliterated a match that the guy after me had to be brought to the clinic before he could say anything."

She gave Marceline a peck on the cheek before going her own way. Stunning.

* * *

Marceline couldn't think straight. Even with everything, with the slight implication of "friends-with-benefits" thing, she couldn't really find it in her to _not_ do things with Bonnibel. She couldn't even get her head out into a proper thinking process with all that's going on.

Keila didn't comment, but merely smiled to herself. Oh if only she knew.

"Marceline?" Grey said, waving a hand her way. "Spacing out again?"

"What?" She said, tripping on her own words. "What is it?"

"Are you not going to eat that?"

She looked at her food. Mashed potatoes. Good shit, but she wasn't feeling it.

Breathe in, breathe out. She thought of this. Might as well let it out.

"Hey guys… How do you stop a lie?"

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! Part 2 will be posted soon. I tried to take this apart as I could, but this was really tricky. It is... yeah. HAHAHAHA


	10. Acceleration Pt2

CHAPTER 9.2 – Acceleration pt.2

"You WHAT?!" Keila screamed shrilly.

The entire lunchroom stared her way for a moment before everyone resumed to their own lunchtime agendas. Awkward.

"Shush, you." Marceline said, hiding her face. "I'm heavily ashamed enough as is, but I really don't know what to do."

Grey looked like he was going to burn her right there on her seat with his stare, but it was more out of concern rather than anything bad… it still made Marceline shift in her seat.

"How long has this been going on?" He said, guiding her back into conversation.

Marceline blinked, thinking of things at length. "Which one are we talking about? The fact that I'm the anonymous RED, or the making out thing?"

Keila and Grey looked at each other briefly, then turned her way. "Both."

"Well…" Marceline started. "The RED thing began when I started a Tumblr blog, like, before the semester started and— and don't laugh. God, stop—"

Grey and Keila were back to having this strangely contorted look on their faces, and it was irksome but they tried to keep their faces impassive, at least.

With laughter barely contained in her voice, Keila urged Marceline to go on, "Go, go. Tumblr, yeah— pfft."

With a scowl, Marceline continued. "Anyway, she hit me up and I got so nervous that I ended up calling myself some random playable Pokémon character."

"You're such a wussy," Grey laughed, humming. Thinking.

"I just… and the making out thing is recent, I suppose." Marceline lamented, "It's only been a month or so since the RED thing started, and she's pretty much using me as some sort of sexual punching bag… because she's into RED."

"Kinky." Keila commented dryly. "She's a little more of that than I gave her credit for."

"But that's also kind of paradoxical and all sorts of weird." Grey added. "You're in a, um. How do you say? An unusual situation?"

"So, recap…" Keila interjected, before Marceline could say anything. "I mean, we all know that you've liked Bonnibel for _years_ —"

"What?! No, I—" Marceline said, stumbling on your words.

"Marceline, we've known each other for years. We know damn well that your kindergarten crush on Bonnie was a subject we went about for… a while." Keila said, smiling knowingly.

"I told you about it when we were kids! How dare you betray me? It's been years, so you really ain't got none, girl."

Grey made circle motions with his hands, but his face was slightly serious. He really was taking all of this to heart. "You can try to hide but we'll be running around in circles."

"Fine…" Marceline grumbled.

/-/-/

 _"_ _I like you!" Grey said, practically glowing red as Bonnibel held onto the flowers that he had given her. "I've liked you for a while, and like, I was hoping…"_

 _Bonnibel smiled but it definitely didn't seem genuine. Not to Marceline, at least._

 _"_ _That's really sweet of you, Grey." She began. "But I can't reciprocate your feelings. I just— yeah."_

 _Grey deflated a bit but he gave her a soft smile, either way. "Thank you for being honest, at least. I promise I won't bug you on about it."_

 _Bonnie's smile cranked up a bit and nodded, walking her own way off into the cafeteria._

 _She was evidently at peace, but Grey was really torn by the looks of it. He was trying to make the most to salvage what pride is taken away by these stupid confession moments. So sad, indeed._

 _"_ _Hey Grey?" Marceline said, approaching him cautiously._

 _"_ _Hm?" He said, snapping into attention._

 _"_ _How are you holding up there?"_

 _"_ _I'm doing okay, for the most part. I'm just a little bit out of it." He sighed. "I could have guessed this would have been the outcome. We never did really talk that much, to be fair."_

 _Marceline hummed in thought, pretty much gauging where she should take the conversation. "You know, it's not that you're any bad. I mean, when we dated it was mostly a fluke of a connection. So maybe we'll all settle in some sort of discomfort every now and down."_

 _"_ _Gee, Marce. I totally feel better," he replied drolly. "I'm just gonna ditch the feelings. But it's not so bad. She let me down gently so that's a good thing."_

 _Patting his back, he and Marceline walked back into the back of the school, looking for Keila._

 _Upon the sight of the girl, she gave a weak smile._

 _"_ _What's up? How'd it go?"_

 _Marceline waved a hand vaguely, but responded in turn. "She basically rejected him. Nothing big."_

 _Keila probably should've kept what hope she had from immediately popping on her face, but she seemed to have cheered up from that point. It was a small consolation for her and her unrequited feelings, after all._

 _"_ _Are you gonna hate her for this?" Marceline asked Grey._

 _"_ _That kind of petty shit is fucked up." He replied. "I'll be bitter but not that petty, thanks."_

 _"_ _What do you think, Keila?" Marceline added._

 _Keila wasn't sure what else to offer but a mere shrug._

 _"_ _She's got it good, really." She murmured. "Who wouldn't want her?"_

-/-/-/-

 _"_ _We can't really figure out what kind of advice to give you," Keila said. "But the thing is, I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get out of this mess. I can't assure you that it'll end nicely at all, though."_

Marceline just let the words process further into her head and she was pretty sure she didn't have any other way to let it be at the end of the day. She might as well just succumb and proceed with whatever her guts might tell her.

She let herself fall into the depths of her statistics class. She really wasn't feeling like going to begin with, especially with the fact that Bonnibel sat right in front of her. She didn't want to risk ditching though, and Bonnie wasn't exactly a bad view. The idea that she was feeling this amalgamation of shitty guilt was pretty much the precursor of a lot of things, sadly. She realized that she was losing her resolve again.

At some point, Marceline lost track of what was going on, and found herself being prodded to take some papers from the girl who sat in the seat in front of her.

"Marceline, we've got something to do. You have to try to stay alert, at least."

Bonnie's tone was playful, but Marceline couldn't help but level a glare at her. She didn't quite understand where she should've directed this affair, but she was growing a little uncomfortable with the familiarity, though not exactly because of Bonnie.

Answering the paper was good enough, as she decided to finish the work and ditch the class right after.

She felt Bonnibel watch her leave the room, but she was just so exhausted.

-/-/-/-

Her time smoking by the back of a gas station a little into the edge of town was her way to cope. Her father might not exactly approve of her current activity but she didn't find it in her to care.

"I'm making too much of a big deal about this," Marceline muttered to herself. "It is way too dramatic in my head than it should be."

There was a little noise of a rather trashy looking car that parked up right next to where she parked hers. She didn't really care at that point, having to stay over at some random station as the evening was close to creeping by. The car was familiar. She didn't want to have to stick around to figure out whose car it was.

As she proceeded to open her own car, a familiar boy with a shoddy Mohawk came into view, obviously shocked to see Marceline there as well.

"Marceline?"

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Hi, Ash."


	11. Acceleration Pt3

CHAPTER 9.3 – Acceleration pt.3

"How've you been?" Ash asked, sliding down a bit closer to her, offering her a can of beer. He was obviously uncomfortable, but it was also obvious that he would probably not leave her alone. She thought she might as well stay, even for a bit.

"I've been okay, going through things here and there." She said, hopefully dismissing the boy. "I'm just here to relax a bit…"

Ash seemed so focus on her – on _every_ part of her. It was really the kind of look that was very intrusive and it was definitely unwanted. All Marceline wanted was just to ditch him right then and there, but courtesy still counts, she thought.

"So…" Ash began.

"So?"

"Have you been dating anyone lately?" The hope in his voice was close to sounding sad, but it mostly sounded pitiful.

"Mm. Nope, but I'm kind of in a thing with someone." Marceline drawled. There was no point beating around the bush, really. "I really like them a lot."

Ash's face looked as if he was really torn, but it was mostly hurt. Marceline just wanted this guilt-tripping thing, though it wasn't entirely conscious. He was even inching closer. When she scooted away from him, he stayed in his place – obviously chastened.

"So, are you at least finding some fun out of it? Other than just running him around in circles—"

"You should know by now that girls aren't just some trophy person that you can make out with, right?"

Ash just looked outright shameful, but Marceline continued.

"Ash, you'll have to know by now that not everyone sees the world as some grand movement for you to find some sexual pleasure in. It's honestly very embarrassing."

"You just don't know what it's like to like girls," he countered. "Guys have it worst in that department because—"

"I like a girl, Ash." Marceline put, with an extreme edge in her voice. "And though I know straight boys can find liking girls to be very different. I've liked enough to know."

Ash just bit his tongue as Marceline chugged down her beer, heading off to take her seat in her car.

"Hey Marceline?" Ash called out.

With a groan, Marceline took one look back at him. "What?"

He just stood there, as if standing there without words would actually make any difference to her already growing distaste towards him.

She revved the engine and left him in his silence.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"Hey Bon…"

Marceline was typing, but she wasn't quite sure what to say to Bonnie at all.

She shouldn't have to worry about it anyway, especially on whether she'd have to admit to being RED or not. There was definitely nothing worth much about it, except that though Bonnie was technically coming onto her, she sincerely had some feelings for some random fictional figment on the internet.

She sighed and continued with jotting down the words.

"Bonnibel, how are you? How was your day?"

She evaded it, still.

She couldn't find the good grace to admit it, either way.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _Hey Red, c:_

 _Today was an awfully long day. I had to stay behind to do some paperwork for important affairs. You know… stupid student body shit._

 _The debate went terribly. I mean, I did well, but the guy after me literally vomited and it definitely was not a pleasant sight. I've never seen someone so goddamned nervous before. It was really funny, but I guess I'm a little guilty. Sorry not sorry, still._

 _How was your day, RED?"_

Marceline sucked in her breath, her thought process overanalyzing the situation.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"Today is considerable. I've got a lot on my mind, and it's killing me, I guess. It's stupid, really.

I've got to tell you something."

Bonnie took her time replying to that, and every second made it all the worse for Marceline.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _Sure! Hit me."_

Marceline tapped around her screen, took to typing down and opening her Skype account. She figured the best way to tell her was… through a call. Right? A big face reveal? That would be very ominous. Would it be any different, really? However she might have come out to Bonnibel? (That sounded different, but the point is… Yeah, no, she already came out of the closet.)

She dismissed the idea of Skype after a while… There was no point, and she was just being plain old melodramatic.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"Do you wanna meet up in person? I think… I think it's time you saw me, for like. For real.

And it's really unfair to you because I know who you are and you don't know half the shit about me. It's… concerning. To a degree."

Bonnie didn't reply.

Not for the next couple of hours at least.

Marceline just needed to work through homework and everything anyway, but when the clock was obviously pushing itself into the midnight, she finished everything with the obvious mess of a realization that she couldn't do anything with her hands anymore. All the necessary tasks were done.

Then came the message from Bonnie.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _This is… sudden._

 _By the way, you're probably asleep by now, I'm so so sorry! I actually fell asleep while I was doing some paperwork… Also… I, um. I definitely want to go see you. I definitely do, I'm just very nervous hahahahaha pls don't judge me. Pls._

 _But sure... Where do you wanna meet me? And when?"_

Marceline rubbed the sleepiness off of her eyes, thinking of the proper response to send the other girl.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"Meet me at the swing set of Candy Towers. In an hour."

Marceline felt a glimmer of hope with two things:

Bonnie might not want to meet so early, or she'd be excited to really know who RED was that she'd toss around some sort of rule that her family would put on her.

 _bubblegumbites_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _Are you sure? It'll be past midnight…_

 _I'm game for it but you definitely have to be there if ever."_

Marceline felt uncertain, but she sent the next text anyway.

SEND MESSAGE to _bubblegumbites_ :

"I'll see you there."


	12. Displacement

CHAPTER 10 - Displacement

"Marceline? You're heading out so late?"

Hunson's tone did not hide away his shock of seeing her heading out so late. He looked at her so skeptically that Marceline almost felt guilty. She tossed the feeling aside, trying to figure out what to do about heading off to see Bonnibel.

"Marcceline?" Hunson repeated. "Is everything alright?"

She blinked slowly, trying to analyze the situation.

"Um… Uh, just a little midnight run to McDonald's?" And they both knew that was probably the shittiest excuse to ever have left her mouth. She didn't even sound sure of it herself. Stupid.

Hunson's face looked impassive, as if he was probably going to give a flat point of a retort.

Marceline _should've_ thought of a better excuse. Her dad could've come up with something, like driving with her to McDonald's, or getting it for delivery—

"Don't forget to bring a jacket," Hunson said, instead. His features said 'worry,' but Marceline felt that he didn't want to betray what trust he had for her. She didn't want to do that either. "Text me once you're home. I'll leave the gates out of the lock."

"Thanks dad," she mumbled, as she got her jacket.

 _/-/-/_

 _"Marceline," her mother urged. "This is your father."_

 _Hunson's face looked so pensive, as if he was meeting more of a client rather than an eight year old child. More aptly, his eight year old daughter. He was more of a nervous wreck than she was, she supposed. Some lawyer._

 _He knelt to meet her eye-level. He even smiled. That was nice. He didn't seem so bad._

 _"Hi there, little monster," he greeted. His nervous hands shaking a bit. This man was probably not used to dealing with children, that's for one. "I'm Hunson Abadeer. I'm your dad. And you and your mom will be living with me now."_

 _Marceline noticed the car that was right behind him. It was sleek and black, looking almost like a hearse with the dark shine and gleam. Was that a way to describe a hearse? She wasn't sure. What she did know was that she didn't know much of where they were going, and she didn't like that idea._

 _That almost changed when she came upon a house on the nicer part of the city. The house was close to being isolated, if not for the few other houses in the neighborhood; but with the gates hanging high, Marceline feared for the life of her that it was going to be some house straight from a horror movie._

 _Ironically enough, as the house came into view, it was actually a neat looking house. Modern looking, but not painfully so. Marceline let out a sigh of relief that Hunson easily caught._

 _"It's a little intimidating, isn't it?" He laughed. "I'm actually not used to having much people around so it's nice to crowd up the place. It'd be… nice. I guess."_

 _"Will there be a place I can play in?" Marceline inquired._

 _"Well…" he began, "if you want, we can set up some playroom or—"_

 _"I mean… a place for my piano. The piano I had in Candy Towers. And my guitar. And my violin. And a bunch of other instruments that I'll have one day."_

 _Hunson actually laughed at that. "Anything you want, sweetie."_

 _There was a pause, as Marceline began babbling onto Hunson's space, but after some time, she noticed that her mother had stayed quiet through everything. That was odd, because she'd have expected her to be a little stricter on such a case. She was always going to implement rules… that was always what she did. But she was quiet._

 _"Momma! I'm gonna have my own music room!" She said, excitedly._

 _Her mother passed her a weak smile, but moved on to looking back through the window._

 _Marceline didn't like the passive reaction from her mother, but she figured not to push it._

 _They got down from the car and proceeded to take their belongings in. The moment she entered the house, she was greeted with an ominous empty._

 _"Why does this place look so… sad? There's nothing here!"_

 _Hunson looked grim… he looked like the kind of sad that the somewhat scary face of his wouldn't really show._

 _"There will be, though." He said, smiling her way. "We'll fill this place, and it will feel like a proper home."_

-/-/-/-

Marceline was close to having a panic attack, but she had to try to at least keep a proper hold of the steering wheel. She wasn't even driving yet, but she couldn't even focus on such a simple task. She was at risk of crashing her car once she'd set off to meet Bonnibel. She just needed to find some sort of composure to the whole thing, right? Like, if she just breathed in for five seconds, oxygen would probably help her brain, right? Humans are not anaerobic, she reminded herself. Oxygen is love, oxygen is literally life.

She huffed anyway, and turned on the engine, which sadly for her started up a lot more quickly than she would have wanted. She still tried to remind herself: _Humans are not anaerobic. Breathe, Marceline._

And she breathed in a little too quickly.

 _Okay, don't hyperventilate, Jesus Christ._

And she drove off.

The trees and the other houses started filling in like a huge blur after everything.

 _/-/-/_

 _"Marceline, you're not supposed to stay out this late!" Marceline's mother reprimanded._

 _"Mom, the service broke down. It would've taken a while and it's too far for us to walk through the—"_

 _"We have rules in this house. I don't want you getting lost or hurt or—"_

 _"Mom, it is fine. I really didn't mean to—" Marceline tried to interject._

 _"We're changing your school service…" Her mother said, reaching for her phone in a paranoid frenzy. "If they can't even do one job right—"_

 _Marceline's blood was boiling._

 _"Mom, it really wasn't their fucking fault!"_

 _Her mother looked at her, obviously unnerved at the sudden retort. "I raised you not to swear, Marceline. We have rules in this—"_

 _"It isn't about that!" Marceline said, biting back. "I don't know why you're putting this to a point of being some sort of micromanager. Mom, I'm twelve so yeah, sure, parental guidance—but the slightest inconvenience that would 'tamper with my wellbeing' is suddenly taken down as quickly as it can be without proper evaluation!"_

 _Marceline's mother just stared her down then walked through the halls, seemingly filled with nothing but disappointment._

 _"Mom," Marceline grunted. "Mom!"_

 _"I don't understand how you don't appreciate what I'm doing for you!" Her mother cried in a tiny form of hysteric. "I'm just trying to keep you safe. Too many things have been lost from me—"_

 _"Mom… I'm not leaving or anything. I don't know what you're talking about."_

 _Her mother just lied down there. She just couldn't stop crying._

 _"Moving out was a big mistake." She said. "Hunson was a mistake. I shouldn't have let him talk me into this."_

 _"What do you mean?" Marceline asked, very much alarmed. "Dad is great, and we've been living just fine—"_

 _"But he's too lenient on you." The mother barked. "You've been living under this roof and he's taught you to be so… carefree. There are things to be scared of in this world, Marceline."_

 _"… Alright, mom." Marceline said, hiding her face in her hands. She was radiating with some sort of malcontent. She didn't know what to make of it. "Just. Don't act so rash. It's terrifying."_

 _The slight sad hum, the soft patter of footsteps walking away, and the muted click of a door being closed was one of the last things that Marceline heard from her mother._

 _That, and the sobs that she chose to ignore._

-/-/-/-

Marceline was close. She was already by the woods leading up the Candy Towers.

It always perplexed her, how much of it has overgrown. The trip, though not so far, was still one that took ages for her to really understand. It's like the still of the past still met with the present. Simple marks and vandalism, the stumps, those were still there. The change of everything else though made them all the more pronounced.

Everything was overgrown.

She paused the moment that the buildings came into view. She wasn't ready to make any sort of movement closer from where she was. Honestly, she just wanted to ditch Bonnibel. Maybe that would've made the statement that RED won't really… Care. Even though she did, more than she'd like to admit. A little too much than she'd like to admit.

Soon enough, the park within the compound also came into view, as she hid her car by the nearest carpark that was obstructed from the view of the swings.

She held her breath, unsure of whether the fear bundling up in her chest was worth the possible damnation that Bonnibel was going to give her.

She stayed in the trees a little while as she saw Bonnie walk over to the swings, with a mug and a thermos in her hands.

She looked beautiful, with the red of her hair illuminated by the moon, despite the clouds still hovering around it.

Marceline just… caved.

 _/-/-/_

 _"Bonnie?" Marceline said, getting a little bit confused. "Why are you looking like you're about to give me an incident report slip?"_

 _"You're not supposed to be having PDA in school, you know." The redhead said, pointing to Grey's hand holding onto Marceline's. "Not to be rude."_

 _Grey looked abashed, taking his hand away, wiping it by his uniform pants._

 _"Bonnibel, we're literally just holding hands." Marceline remarked, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Yes, you're holding his hand. On school grounds," the redhead said. "There's still a sanction for that."_

 _"I… gotta go." Grey said, motioning to leave the two for their own little conversation._

 _"What gives?" Marceline spat, directing her attention to Bonnibel. "I highly doubt you're normally this shifty. Is there something wrong with me that you're open to giving me an incident report for something innocent?"_

 _"Innocence is but a fleeting lie," Bonnibel began. "So, why are you even here? Your boyfriend already left. I'm just here to give you a warning."_

 _"High school may be an ass, but you don't have to be the Chancellor that pretty much sticks the shit back in our asses." Marceline said drolly._

 _Bonnibel squinted, giving her what glare she could manage. Marceline flinched but didn't want to care enough for being subjected to her scrutiny._

 _"I'm just trying to follow rules." Bonnie said tartly._

 _"You know I don't like fucking crap shit about rules." Marceline replied._

 _"You used to." The redhead said, obviously not even caring to sugarcoat her words._

 _With that, Marceline stormed off. She really didn't want to have to say shit at that point._

-/-/-/-

"Bonnie…?" Marceline said, peering into the area. She was careful. She knew that Bonnie would probably have figured that whoever came along was RED. By God's grace, she hoped this wouldn't be jinxed.

Bonnibel looked up and took a sip of hot cocoa.

She didn't even look mildly surprised…

"Oh… Hey, Marceline. I mean… _Red._ I've been waiting for you." Bonnie said, simply seeming unaffected by everything.

"For me?" Marceline said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I figured you'd come around sooner or later."

Marceline was floored, definitely unsure of how to respond at that point.

"What?" She nearly screeched.

"Oh? Why are you so out of your wits right now?" Bonnibel laughed. Marceline was honestly close to straight up exploding. Was she really fucking worried over nothing?

"You're not… shocked? Or annoyed? Nothing?!"

"If you had not called me the _wonderful and ever elusive Bonnibel Park_ in both your personas, then I might not have figured it. And…" Bonnibel gestured to the thermos by the swings. "I got you hot chocolate. It's still warm."

Marceline sat on the swing awkwardly, claiming the thermos and drinking up some of its contents.

Hot cocoa with peppermint. Nice.

"So…"

"So?"

"How long have you known?" Marceline asked.

"… A while." Bonnibel answered. "After the kiss we had, you said that. The statement. Then I realized your speech patterns are the same."

"Wow, so technical." Marceline drawled. "Then why turn me into some friends-with-benefits partner? You could've told me instead of going on about some person with a color for a name."

"I like the thrill," Bonnie said, taking a sip of her drink. "Why? Is this anticlimactic?"

"Yes." Marceline admitted. "I expected more annoyance and possible avoidance."

"I was thinking that you should've been best to rile up this way. It's fun, especially since you were essentially catfishing me."

"I have a feeling you just enjoyed it."

"Yeah, pretty much." And Bonnie laughed.

Then some silence fell, as they got to drinking their cocoa. Pressure was building up by Marceline's lungs again.

"I'm really sorry." Marceline added.

"For what?"

"For what was essentially catfishing."

"Hey, at least you came clean?" Bonnie said, adding jest to it.

"You know that doesn't really help." Marceline groaned. She felt embarrassment peer through her bones.

"You know what helps though?" Bonnie said, humming.

"What?"

"We can make out in your car and forget that you were pretty much a dork throughout all this…"

Marceline could only remain silent to that prompt for so long.

"You give such a fine proposition, Bonnibel."


	13. BONNIE'S POV (ARC 1)

_CHAPTER 1:_

The litany of routines that she had to endure was perpetually unbearable, and she thought that despite the fact that Tumblr was already some sort of boring mess, she couldn't really get out of it. After so many years of being stuck on it, really, resistance was futile no matter how hard she wanted to quit, it was just… there. Maybe she should start by removing the bookmarks off of her laptop. It might help.

Scrolling through it anyway, something inevitably caught her fancy. It was on a minor radar thing? She didn't know.

 _'_ _i might be a little teapot;_

 _im not short but I SHOUT at literally any moment i can_

TAGS: _#how do you even do this tumblr thing? #well #life #just #this is me right now in #college_

 _#is this how this works?_

With a little chuckle, Bonnibel came to inspect the blog that posted the mildly amusing post. Tumblr user… _suckstolovered_.

"Oh," Bonnibel muttered.

There were literally no other posts on this blog.

Was it new? She was pretty sure it was. The post was made just a bit ago, and the theme wasn't really in the most desirable of looks. Bonnibel just sighed and gave into following the person. If there was anyone to be a first in following someone, it might as well be her. No real reason, really. Just… She wasn't sure. She was bored and looking for shitposts.

And she was followed back. Nice.

She guessed she might as well have followed with working on undesirable papers on the minutes of the meeting on electives.

-/-/-/-

The passage of time was almost comical, but the next thing she knew was that there was another post amidst the reblogged shitposts from that new blog that she started following.

 _suckstolovered:_

 _TITLE: a lane under subpar excellence_

 _"_ _I believe that performing well, so to say, is relative. By which, the narrative I'd like to denounce is the narrative of which I have to engage myself within a standardized education which I am offered on a daily._

 _It is quite embarrassing, really, as though I am supposedly a craft in the making, I like to dumb myself down to refute any form of expectations. Why? Because it is easy. And that is its own problem which I'd like to assess in a different time. Right now, though, I'd like to revel in the idea that I am better off than what my peers would assert me as._

 _Then, I'd like to begin a query on whether to submit, or bathe in the glory of this pride of what they might not necessarily be able to attain._

 _Oh, the life of the vapid can sometimes be something to relish in, isn't it?"_

TAGS: _#college life #i don't wanna be your fool #i am my own fool #university of scarborough #anonymity is key_

Bonnie looked at the piece in scrutiny. For some reason, the wording felt familiar. It was poetic? Not exactly profound, but more than the average line and delivery. She didn't particularly care for it but she somehow did? Whatever, it was too vague.

Taking a look at the tags, she realized she put in the University of Scarborough.

If this person was from the same university, then it was more likely that they would have known who she was. Really, who wouldn't? She's Bonnibel Park, after all. Head of the Chancellors in the lower years of the university. It's not really fun, but she liked the reputation.

She began typing a message to the person on the other end of the internet, only aiming for a little bit of gumption to figure out who this vague posting scoundrel was.

"Miss Park!" Piper said as he knocked on her door. "Should I deliver dinner to you tonight, or would you finally opt to dine downstairs?"

"Sure, Piper, just bring up whatever;" Bonnie replied, frustrated at suddenly losing the idea of what she wanted to say to the internet persona.

"Miss Park, I think your guardian would want to at least see you."

"Even if he does, I don't really want to see him."

Piper hesitated, lingering in the doorway, before turning to leave.

"Alright, Miss Park," he muttered. "I'll tell him you'll not be seeing him tonight."

"Thank you, Piper."

With that, Bonnie basically just kicked whatever initial thought she had out of the way… maybe she could just find someone to rant with to this yet to be known person. It might as well have helped at that point? She wasn't entirely sure? All she knew was that she was going to have the most fun out of it. That's what she hoped, at least.

SEND MESSAGE to _suckstolovered_ :

 _"_ _I don't know much about your experience in my university…"_

Oh yeah, it was going to be real fucking good…

With the replies that came next, and the intrigue of inquiry in her head, Bonnibel almost didn't mind the knock of her uncle calling her.

She just decided to take off, and go to sleep, not minding the older man demanding her attention.

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 2:_

August 28th was not something she dearly desired.

Some reports and details came from the supervising offices, and she didn't really feel all too good about them… she even wanted to take a music elective, and that wasn't even provided. With that in mind, she knew that some sort of shit-show would probably be prompted out of nowhere and she did _not_ have the energy for that. It was just too much to really think about at that point, and she was exhausted enough as is having to go through several checking processes with the institution. She loved the work, but she was probably dying from it.

She had only reported to a non-chancellor once, and that would be her newly made friend, Red. Bonnie was not entirely sure whether it was a good idea, but for the most part, she was dealing with it.

With that in mind, as she was preparing to head to school with all the prepared paperwork, her uncle came knocking on the door, and Bonnibel just did _not_ want to have to deal with him so early in the morning.

"Bonnibel, you did not respond to when I called for you last night. You should have responded."

Bonnie just thought of ignoring his statement but she didn't really have an excuse to ignore him at the moment. She did have an excuse for last night, though.

"Well, sorry uncle. I was busy with some paperwork for school," she raised some papers indicating the work she needed to do. "It was a lot to handle, you know. Typical school stuff."

The slightly aged man looked grim and his glare was obviously showing that he didn't quite like the abused excuses that Bonnibel had that were constantly and entirely rotating around school. He didn't really have any proper ammunition, though. She _is_ one of the higher ranking student body representatives.

"Bonnibel." He said sternly. "You're becoming a disappointment. You make Robert's image look bad…" He made an elongated pause as if to say more, but he didn't add to that, as he just massaged his temples, leaving and closing the door behind him.

Bonnie just stared at the blank space that he had left behind, and she just sighed and retreated to the papers she had to work on. That was what was best after all.

Just take the papers and leave. That's what she told herself. Anything was better than that goddamned house.

-/-/-/-

She knew that the humanities department wouldn't like the outcome of the meeting, and she also knew that things probably wouldn't look pretty. That of course, has become what she considered was an understatement of a prediction. She just had to watch Marceline leave after the girl basically interrogated the lower chancellor on the notice from the superintendent's office.

"Dude, it was insane. It's almost as bad as when I get mad," Phoebe muttered. "Like, I don't know. I would've sucker-punched him but that would pretty much give off the wrong impression, right?"

"I think it's bad enough that the budget for their department was cut and the proceeds were heavily taken away for other sectors of Scarborough uni. I can't blame them." Bonnie took a sip of her strawberry milk drink. "I'm not enticed to really regale you with anything, but I hardly think that punching the boy would lead to any desirable outcomes. If anything, it would have probably aggravated it."

"It's a good thing I didn't, then?" Phoebe said, voice spilling with sarcasm. "Ah, I'm glad that I knew better. I'm wonderful."

"Get off your ass, Pheebs." Bonnie laughed.

The good vibe was cut short upon the arrival of a specific person.

"Hey Pheebs," Finn greeted, mostly pouring his attention to his girlfriend. Giving Bonnie a slightly loaded look, he also sent her a smile. He was probably getting onto something, but she wasn't interested in it. Or in him. At all. "And also, hello Peebs. Nice to see you guys hanging out. Are those Chancellor jobs for the day done?"

Bonnie just ignored Finn but Phoebe looked happy to see him, so she just dragged him away as she entertained his questions; Bonnie felt bad for the girl. The boy never was the best with women, and she thought that it was just sad, either way. For Phoebe, at least.

As she was about to leave with being bored and stuck looking at the space where a garden was put, Sae Na took her place next to Bonnie.

"I'm sorry about the reaction of some students in my department," Sae Na said, sulking. "You know, we all feel gravely about it and it's just so exhausting."

"It must be hard on you…" Bonnibel paused. "You know, being the chancellor for the humanities department must be weighing heavily on you and like… how's that for you?"

Sae Na just slumped, resting her face on her hands. "I'm pretty sure I look like some bad guy that didn't like, defend the fucking department or something. Incidentally, it might be my fault for my failed effort, but it was a greater collective action and most people wouldn't really see that."

Bonnibel nodded to that, thinking of what to say.

"You know…" She started, "Maybe you and I could start on something? Like, a petition. Depending on the outcome of the coming elective placement day. You game?"

Sae Na just looked at her, as if she felt bored – maybe too defeated – at the notion.

"We'll see, Bon."

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 3_ :

The day was drilling into her head already and she didn't want to have to deal with it at all, but there she was, assisting the other students into the elective selection process. She was used to the stress of dealing with other people and generally trying to attend to their needs, but it still wore her out. Oh, the troubles of living in a filthy mortal body. She'd rather be a sugary wad of gum, if that meant to get some rest. Instead, she was a living, breathing embodiment of stress.

Focusing on rearranging some papers, Bonnibel's mind was starting to get a bit fuzzy. This small disarray blur was cut short in a bit.

"Hello, Prime Minister," the cheeky music student – Marceline Abadeer – greeted. It was almost infuriating, but somehow not so much. "Aren't you going to write up your own electives?"

"Oh. Hello, Marceline." Bonnibel replied, blinking slowly. She was very aware that she appeared exhausted, but she did not care much to hide that fact. "I'm already done, but I had to watch the filing of some students."

Marceline did not have much of the good grace to evade Bonnie's irritation as she continuously probed her. "Any electives you had in mind?"

"I'm certain you're aware that a lot of electives were cut off." She said, nearly cursing but mostly aiming for pleasantries. "Just find one and register. The chancellors have to sort things out with the faculty so that the school can even things out."

Bonnie thought that discussion was over, but it appears that Marceline's friend didn't want out on it.

"Thanks… You know, we could've been given a heads up?" Keila muttered.

"We were as helpless as you guys in not knowing what were dissolved and what were kept. Be happy that you're blessed that none of you are being blamed for all this." She was yet again holding her anger in. "Even Sae Na is hounded. Just. Whatever, head on your way. Remember, two electives to fill your schedule. Try and find something, unless you want to be lacking units this semester."

Bonnie took to her own papers, as Marceline and Keila went off for their own elective hunt. She stared at the piece of paper that she almost found no will to look at. She hoped to death that the idea for openings upon a student petition would at least do… something.

With little to no students really taking mind of her, she took out the written petition of the chancellors into the restoration of some subjects, assessing where it could be going wrong. With everything seemingly going into a proper order, Bonnibel headed towards the Student Orders and Accounts office, with papers in hand and an ambition to hopefully finish the day's work with good results.

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 4-5_ :

Marceline Abadeer was getting on her nerves again.

Was it just that on most of their interactions, she'd have to opt to teasing her with the same boy that annoyingly clung onto her like she was the only woman in the entire world? Or was it that she always tried to stick her under some sort of stress? Evidently, Marceline had a broken gaydar. Bonnibel was obviously the… Uh, honestly, considering the excessively overflowing sense of femininity, once couldn't really have guessed, Cultural context, after all. Maybe she shouldn't take it out on people who didn't really know any better, after all.

As Finn left the classroom, she felt Marceline's gaze fall away from her. What exactly did that even mean for Bonnibel, she wouldn't really know. What she did know was that she really, really unnerved that day, for reasons she has yet to really understand.

It probably should've been obvious though because as pairs were being assigned and it was her time to be paired up, it had to be Marceline _fucking_ Abadeer. Oh, yes. And the woman was barely even paying attention as their roles were being called.

Now there she was, freaking snapping right at the infuriating woman's face.

"Marceline Abadeer, get your grip together." She half-cursed.

/-/-/

 _"_ _I'm going to have a hard time getting out of this tree," a little Bonnibel said._

 _She was barely too high off the ground but it wasn't promising for her, considering her small stature. The point of going up the tree was to fetch Timmy, but even that has become a question. How did she get there, exactly?_

 _"_ _Hello." She called out curtly, to a slightly taller girl from below._

 _The little girl looked upwards. "Hello?"_

 _"_ _Hi."_

 _The little girl rubbed at her elbow, probably gauging the situation herself. "What are you doing up there?" She asked airily. "Must be fun."_

 _"_ _Yeah. It is okay, I guess. I just want to go down, already." Bonnibel said bluntly. "Do you know how to get me down? I'm Bonnibel, by the way."_

 _"_ _I dunno. Jump, I guess." The other girl shrugged. "And Marceline. I'm Marceline."_

 _Bonnibel looked at her dead in the eye._

 _"_ _Catch me."_

 _Marceline didn't even flinch._

 _"_ _Sure."_

-/-/-/-

She was mostly exhausted by the time she got home, but she figured she might as well get on with her internet friend. Red seemed like a genuinely nice person after all, and she needed all the break from the… definitely exhausting people in school.

When Red came around to saying all the sadness stemming from the day, both of them just poured it all out.

It was nice.

She almost didn't even mind it when her uncle came out knocking on the door again.

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 6_ :

Bonnie definitely didn't know what to make of the day, but what she _did_ know was that she was terribly exhausted and she was honestly having none of it. She really just wanted to go to sleep, and rarely was she ever like that. Sleeping was never something she liked coming in terms with but seeing this rare occasion made her reconsider her opinions on it.

She came to and tried to rearrange all the papers that she had kept through the night. The morning came to and she hoped that whatever order she had on it would be well and done. She had done all the proposals and other documents necessary to really get the plan running. Whether or not the school wanted it, she was going to push this proposal, and it _will_ push through – even if it takes a limb. Though, no, she would preferably leave the arena with her body intact. But she was so close to just falling asleep…

A knock on the door alerted her, and soon enough she found her uncle standing in her space.

"Bonnibel, I will be gone for a period of time. Probably a three months. I want you to be at your utmost best behavior." He said rather gruffly.

"Where are you headed, uncle?" Bonnibel droned. She didn't really care. She much preferred he wasn't there, really.

"I'll be visiting your brother."

Oh, Robert. Again, the star of the show.

"What happened to Robert? Isn't he having fun in Harvard or something?"

Her uncle's look didn't bode well, as he just let the silence linger before continuing.

"I want you to handle everything you can. Piper will be around for your errands, but I don't want any tomfoolery on your part. You're responsible in this household, you hear that Bonnibel?"

Bonnie had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Yeah, that's totally something she cared about. She was just tired, but that doesn't mean she forgot about the shit she needed to do. She was reminded on the daily, after all.

"Yes, uncle. I understand."

With that, her uncle just slammed the door and soon enough, Bonnibel could distinguish the engine that revved away.

After a while, another knock tapped away on her door, but softer this time.

Neddy.

"It's okay, Neddy," Bonnie urged. "You can come in."

The slightly large boy walked over her, his unkempt red hair basically flinging everywhere. He needed a haircut, Bonnie decided, as he walked over to her.

He sucked on his thumb, definitely wary.

"Uncle said he gonna kick me out…"

"Oh no, sweetheart," Bonnie half-whispered, "he wouldn't. Not while I'm here. I wouldn't let him. This entire place is ours, and Robert wouldn't have it any other way, okay?"

Neddy cried, anyway.

This was… going to take some time.

/-/-/

 _"_ _Neddy!" Robert called out, trying to reach out for his brother. "Come on, Neddy sweetheart. Daycare is over. We can go home now."_

 _Bonnie looked at her twin. He definitely had some problems, but she didn't really want to say that in a mean way. She was worried… she just wasn't sure how to deal with it. She wouldn't know how to deal with it if not for Robert._

 _"_ _Come on, Neddy," Bonnibel said, coming closer to the terrified boy. "These kids won't hurt you." She even touched his shoulder, and unexpectedly, the little boy reached for her hand, crying, and sucking on his thumb with the other hand._

 _"_ _I wanna go home. I duwanna come back here, no, no." Neddy was an anxious mess, but Bonnibel's heart broke. Was a four year old supposed to feel like this?_

 _Robert took to reaching out to the both of them, and soon enough they were out the door and on their way home._

 _"_ _Maybe normal school doesn't have to be for Neddy, right?" Robert said, unsuredly, as they made their way to the car that Piper would be driving._

 _Bonnibel just looked in silence, with Neddy crying right next to her._

-/-/-/-

After having a little crying fest with Neddy, she had him under Piper's care, and she definitely had to navigate through most of the day in the university, juggling through her studies and in between, going back to her petition in case she needed to defend them anytime soon.

Soon enough came the moment where she needed to submit it to the SOA office, and by some circumstance, she bumped into someone unlikely.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Princess," Marceline said.

Bonnibel was almost considered a deer in the headlights over Marceline's actions, as the other was actively trying to help out on whatever Bonnibel might have dropped. Still, it was heartwarming as they were both then preoccupied on fixing the papers.

"—Bon…"

The conversation that came after was definitely easy, but Bonnibel didn't concentrate on the details as there was something soft and thrumming from Marceline that Bonnibel couldn't really fail to catch. Was there something new? She wasn't really sure. It was as if Marceline was giving off the vibe of… someone else. Bonnibel put away that consideration but in the end she just accepted that Marceline was probably going to resume being an annoying dingus once this whole thing was over.

Before long, they got to the SOA office to submit the plans for the petition papers, and then Ms. Tessa suddenly handed Bonnibel something rather peculiar…

"Oh my god." She blurted out. "Oh my god"

"What's up, Bon? Anything special?" Marceline said, sounding strangely softer than she expected.

Bonnibel just smiled and whatever she might have said just faded in her head.

She was definitely going to have to deal with this major crush on this Red persona.

All she knew was that on her car ride home, she was blasting out the songs that were chosen specifically for her.

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 7_ :

Bonnibel was sick, and she was sure that if her uncle were there, she would be put under terrible circumstances indeed. He'd be crowing about how she was not doing her best and that her body was being lazy or something like that. She found comfort in the knowledge that he _wasn't_ there, and that he wouldn't be for, like, two months. Hopefully three. That was probably the much needed break that she has always wanted. Though inwardly, she was panicking over how much work she still needed to do.

What she didn't expect was she would get a call to do schoolwork— specifically, with Marceline Abadeer.

She quite nearly passed out, but she put it in her to try and send a message to Red; hopefully she'd understand. But… there's no real commitment? What the fuck; well, whatever. Bonnibel will just do what she wants to (even though she's partially hoping that Red would actually care).

Much to her good grace, Red _did_ send her some messages. It was endearing and it made Bonnibel's day better.

It didn't even stop when Marceline arrived, soft smiles and alike.

Strange.

/-/-/

 _After Marceline had left the house, Bonnibel took to the look of the design that Marceline had left her for the shirts she said she'd make them one day. Bonnie was actually quite elated, in all honesty. It was strange, true, but the appeal was really nice._

 _She lingered on that niceness, but then she thought to herself… Was this some sort of crush? She was only a tiny kid, what would she know? Maybe she was just being one of those silly little girls who read too many fantasy books on fairy tales – though given that these were strictly heteronormative unless you look deeply into greater cultural myths which do present the occasional woman on woman relations. And no, please don't judge Bonnibel; she probably read up on those way too much than she'd like to admit. She's a child… and that was her excuse for wanting to know everything, really._

 _She stuffed the precious thing in her best kept drawers before she really got anywhere. She was happy, and soon enough she will see her friend – crush? First love? – Again… And that thought made her all giddy inside. The feeling of being a child, is all._

-/-/-/-

Marceline was really… nice. She didn't expect that. She was sure that it would be a farce and she wouldn't quite like whatever would've gone through their little study session. She even had the good grace to talk about the concerns on the petition. She actually sounded like she cared.

She almost forgot about the details of what they were talking about.

All she knew was that she liked Marceline being around her.

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 8_ :

Bonnibel couldn't believe it. She _kissed_ Marceline Abadeer.

And she just knew – she _knew_ – that meant she also kissed Red.

How could she not have known? What should she even have felt about it? Should there have been some withheld grudge for not being told who she was? What even was the point of pretending that she wasn't the person of her affections? It wasn't even that she used some other person's face or— it was basically her hiding as someone else, but not necessarily being a different person? How much of these questions were really justified, Bonnie did not really know. All she knew was that it felt good.

It also meant that she was going to have fun with it.

Lots and lots of fun.

/-/

-/-/-/-

 _CHAPTER 9-10:_

She had Marceline by a spell, and she knew it. She was going to make good use of it.

It was almost like a dream, and sex almost felt as delicious as the lie that Marceline put herself into. Bonnibel was almost pleased with the situation and she knew very well how to manipulate it under her own will. That was the kind of girl she was, after all. And periods of hook-ups and such meant her very own sense of redemption after years of annoyed pining.

/-/-/

 _Bonnibel couldn't help but feel the frustration seep into her bones._

 _For years, she couldn't even properly talk to Marceline – now she goes around dating other folks, boys and girls,_ _ **flaunting**_ _them. If not flaunting them, then how so? How would a fourteen year old Bonnibel really justify to herself that the one person she's been into for most of her life was basically dating other people._

 _She had no right, she had no claim. She was probably nobody special._

 _All she knew was that it hurt._

 _What a stupid childhood crush it was._

 _She found him next to that Grey person again. They didn't even look good together._

 _What did she know though?_

 _All she got was a knowing look from Keila, and another from Sae Na._

 _It was overwhelming to say the least._

 _And what is the best way to solve such a thing other than to threaten them with an incident report, right?_

-/-/-/-

This was definitely a good idea, Bonnie thought. It was a good idea for Red – _Marceline_ – to propose for them to meet in the middle of the night to be formally introduced to each other. How wonderful of an idea was that, really? And it's great to do it in the darkness of the night. Now they're in the backseat of Marceline's car, and Bonnibel was close to unclothing her.

Marceline was hot under her touch, writhing underneath her. Bonnie had her tongue making a trail up her neck, taking delicate bites, and sucking and nipping at some precise spots that she has come to know over their short friends-with-benefits phase. She even bit and tugged at Marceline's ear. She was definitely being the pleasure that she was meant to be.

Marceline was whimpering though, obviously overwhelmed with all the touching. What even was so new to this that she was now… more delicate? Bonnibel didn't know but she definitely liked it. She just gave her a kiss for that.

"Shush now, Red; you don't want anyone to hear you now, do you?" Bonnibel whispered. She definitely was enjoying this.

Marceline gave her a look, raised eyebrow and all that. "Maybe I do want them to hear me, but then I guess I just want you to shut me up."

Well. That was… a wonderful prompt. And Bonnibel could only comply.


	14. Locrian Scale

CHAPTER 11 - Locrian Scale

Marceline couldn't recall much of the events of the previous night… For a moment, at least. A blatant reminder came upon her as she found herself in the dull pink bedroom that was definitely Bonnibel's. She didn't even remember how they got here, since for the most part all she remembered was that she was about to get naked in the backseat of her car with said redhead. Instead, she found herself completely naked… but in Bonnie's bed. The redhead in question was sitting whilst writing up some papers on her laptop, still baring flesh as if last night did not happen at all. Every other mark on her body said otherwise, though.

"Bonnibel."

"Yes, Marceline?"

"How did we get here?"

With a hum, Bonnibel paused in thought. "I think I suggested we get in here since… Exhibitionism isn't necessarily my biggest kink, and I don't really believe that car sex in the best thing in the world. Also—"

The hum that came from Marceline got Bonnibel to look at her with a strange intensity. Was it off-putting? Was it somehow hot? Marceline couldn't really decide.

"Hey Marceline." Bonnie said, putting down her laptop and settling down her weight on her elbow.

"Yes, Bonnibel?" Marceline could only raise a brow, whilst trying to burrow herself deeper into the sheets. "I hardly think this would be an encouraging conversation, but shoots."

Bonnibel actually followed suit, sinking into the sheets and kissing Marceline underneath it. Marceline could even make out the green in her eyes. Next thing she knew was that she was underneath Bonnibel again, and she could almost feel the touch…

"I want you to help me with the petition."

Well, that kind of ruined whatever mood Marceline had.

"What?" she muttered, the word simply falling from her mouth.

"I want you to help me with the petition." Bonnibel repeated. "I want some random anonymous blogger to help me do something to make people listen."

Marceline just narrowed her gaze up at Bonnie. "So. All you wanted me to do was be some pawn to fix the stupid educational system or? Because I'd rather get off of this bed, take my clothes and just leave."

Bonnibel didn't even budge, merely hovering above her. Marceline would've felt conscious about the whole proximity, along with the fact that both of them were not wearing any clothing, but she didn't really feel to be in the mood for any of her little games. Her expression, though, was more serious than Marceline really wanted to give her credit for.

"You know how much this petition means to me." Bonnie murmured. "Besides, I never said I slept with you just because of the petition. I'm not that much of a manipulative slut. Sleeping with you feels nice."

"So you're saying you're a slut?" Marceline said.

Bonnie merely gave her a glare before caressing Marceline by her abdomen. She shivered at the touch.

Bonnie gave such a sweet smile before putting out the threat. "Will you listen or would you want me to kick you out of the house with nothing on? Because school is going to set in a bit, so I don't know how you'll feel in needing to streak to your house."

Marceline, as much as she hated to admit it, especially in that moment, was defeated.

"So… How the fuck exactly am I supposed to be doing some of your vigilante work, huh, Bon?" Marceline's face was almost mocking, but Bonnibel was just giving too much of a dead look that she didn't want to pursue into daring to deny the other.

"I want you to write something… controversial. Something that'll be out for scoops, but then the university will never have an inkling. You're a passive member of the Scarborough community, and I'm sure Lim and Petrikov wouldn't be able to do anything to you. Considering things."

Marceline blinked, trying to figure out whatever tactic Bonnibel was out to play. First of all, she didn't even think that was much of… a good thing. It almost sounded like Bonnie was blatantly insulting her social standing in school (or maybe implying negatively on her support system within the institution). She didn't know what much else to say though as she found herself just pulling Bonnie downwards to kiss her.

"Fine." Marceline decided.

"Fine?"

"Where do we start?"

/-/-/

 _Bonnie couldn't quite figure out what to make of the little affair with Marceline, but she knew one thing for sure. Merely hours after the kiss, she was just kept awake, thinking of how Marceline was kinder, softer, and sweeter. How had she not known this before? She didn't want to assume too much, she supposed. After all, Marceline wouldn't admit it to herself. All she could really do to make sense of it was to lie down in bed and just relish in the fleeting moment of a kiss._

 _But she knew it._

 _She kissed Marceline Abadeer._

 ** _"Ever elusive, ever wonderful Bonnibel Park,"_** _she reiterated in her head._

 _And that also meant that she kissed Red as well._

 _She smiled simply to herself and sent a text Marceline's way, and another note to the other persona. If she could find a way to make use of this knowledge, then maybe it would help. It's a good thing she had a crush on Marceline or else this whole thing would've been a difficult farce._

-/-/-/-

Before Marceline could really think of what to do as she got home, her father was just right outside by the gates, probably not having slept all too well. At the sight of Marceline, he seemed to calm down, settling for a pensive smile, wiping his hands by his suit.

"Marceline!" Hunson said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I was worried… the Parks' butler came on call, but… I needed to make sure you would've gotten home before I left for work."

Marceline fidgeted a bit, toying the end of her shirt. What was she really going to say? The truth is, Bonnie was also in need of some other form of work to be approved by a lawyer. Maybe her dad can bring it up into proper jurisdiction? There were so many things to really ask her dad, a lot of things to tell him also. But she just couldn't find what exactly to say about it.

"I'm fine, dad… thanks for worrying about me."

"I heard there was something that Bonnibel Park wanted to talk to you about." Hunson said, resting a hand by her shoulder. "Is there anything in particular that you can tell me about it?"

"Dad…" she said, fumbling on her words a little bit. "I need some help with legal liabilities in terms of the petition that we need to pitch in back into the acceptance of some of the elective courses to be offered. It's kind of a big deal because of all the cuts that the school-slash-government has been putting us on and that might cause a lot of the major programs to be shut down… especially in the humanities department—"

"I see…" And Hunson's somber tone did not necessarily bode well by Marceline's anxiety. "Marceline… I'll see what I can do. We can talk about this when we get home later, alright? This is a big issue and I don't know if two students, no matter how prominent one is, could actually be able to handle something like that."

"We can always try…" Marceline sighed, rubbing at her arm again. The same anxious gesture she always had.

"I'll try with you, sweetie." Hunson nodded, giving her a thumbs up. "I know… You've got things to be a bit rough. But I can't promise you anything."

"It is fine, dad."

And at that Hunson left with the heavy stacks of paper probably inside his briefcase. Marceline didn't even bother with the time as she just opted to fix herself before heading off into school.

-/-/-/-

Keila was particularly concerned on their drive to school, but she didn't want to comment on the hickeys on Marceline's neck that were bared for the world to see. Perhaps Marceline just didn't bother to really try to hide anything, but she was just really too much exhausted to put any thought into anything at the moment. Maybe she just really needed rest and the task that Bonnie put on her shoulders were weighty. She didn't know whether the dhift of dynamics were preferable but she did know that it was entirely burdensome and she didn't really want to be openly subjected to involving herself to the petition and open movement entirely.

"Marceline…?" Keila said, as Marceline finally paid notice of her.

"Yes?" She said, blinking slowly as she tried to process what was going on.

"We literally just circled somewhere, and we passed by school a little while ago. We're going to be late, and I still have to put some makeup on you… your bruises are kind of getting more prominent, to be honest with you."

Marceline rubbed at her neck, and she was just too tired to really debate as she pulled back up and out of the stop where she found herself in.

"I think I'm just a little bit fucked up right now."

"Did you drink?"

"No… I just feel like someone put a totally huge load on me and I can't quite shake it off. It's entirely stupid and I don't know why they are doing this to me."

Keila looked like she knew – and she probably did – but she didn't want to comment any further. If she had any opinions on what she felt about Bonnibel basically making Marceline a mess, she didn't blatantly say them.

"As long as you're sure, Marce."

Marceline didn't bother responding to that one, because she really wasn't.


	15. Mixolydian Scale

CHAPTER 12 - MIXOLYDIAN SCALE

The bell rang but she still didn't find it in her to really find an interest to get into class. Still, Marceline dragged her tired body around anyway, hoping that none of it would really matter. But it kind of did matter for her to go to school, because if she didn't then that would be a waste of money and tuition is goddamn expensive, scholarship or none.

"Thanks for putting that post up." Bonnibel whispered to her ear, gingerly patting at Marceline's shoulders. "It's… a good start."

"I still don't see what would possibly be of any use for some random shit blog to post something of that matter—"

Marceline's rant went to a little bit of a delay as Bonnibel dragged her to the nearest bulletin board. The idea of continuing the rant, however, was trampled as the other girl made a gesture indicating various copies of the post she put up on Tumblr.

They were even spread in some parts of the walls.

"What the fuck…" she started. She was a bit too much in a mix of emotions to really prompt up a query or response to what Bonnie was showing her. Was she mad? Angry? Tired? Sad? All she knew was that looking at the thing made her a bit sick, and a little scared. "Bonnie… Why is this all over the board?"

"We need people to see it, of course." Bonnie said, curtly.

"Did the school board even allow this…?" Marceline added, unsure whether she wanted to hear the answer to begin with. "And… this one board… what about the others?"

"I have my ways, Marceline," Bonnibel replied with a smirk. "And yes, this post is for view literally everywhere on campus."

"Bonnibel, what the fuck, I didn't sign up to have the school boards literally wanting to chop off my head over some semi-controversial post I made on a stupid microblogging platform!"

"Simon doesn't have to know that tidbit, Marceline. That you're Miss Anonymous Scarborough Student, RED." The redhead said, sliding up next to the girl again. "And this is just the beginning, right? A riot won't start with just one thing and…"

Bonnibel pointed nearby the post in the middle.

"I made sure to survey what everyone else would think, of course."

Marceline looked at it, partly petrified with Bonnibel's cold demeanor along with her sketchy disposition. What did Bonnibel really want from this, really? What was she supposed to gain from it? She didn't know, and she wasn't sure she even wanted to.

She read the responses anyway.

Some were a bit off topic, some were a little deviant on the essence of the actual post, and others were a bit discriminative of what she was trying to say to begin with. Did she really want to care what bullshit the general public really care about what a petty humanities student wanted to say…

Despite not comprehending much of anything else, this one stood out:

 _Fuck it! I knew that someone would've thought the same! We're a major factor of the population of this university; I didn't think it had much to do with the government tho? Policing? Wtf? What fascist regime are they even aiming for?! Idk man it looks sketchy to me_

"Fascist regime?" Marceline commented, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't quite imagine that anyone would look that into it."

"How deep into it were you think of, then?"

"I…" she started. "Maybe I was thinking of it in the same way.

"You just needed someone to say it first?"

"Perhaps." She said, slightly defeated at the realization.

"Come on," Bonnibel muttered, taking her hand. "Let's go to class."

Marceline shrugged and followed suit anyway. She might as well have followed, though she was feeling a little bit more convinced with what Bonnibel wanted them to do.

-/-/-/-

"So." Keila began.

"So." Grey reiterated.

"What?" Marceline responded, a bit peeved.

Grey and Keila looked at each other, and as Grey shrugged, Keila turned Marceline's way.

"Are you and Princess dating or something?"

Marceline huffed but gave a chuckle, either way. "She has a name."

Grey wasn't having any of it though, as he sat up and looked straight at her. "Okay, Marceline. Are you and _Bonnibel_ dating?"

Seeing that there was really no way to deviate the discussion from anything that would probably upset her friends, she resigned to her fate with the fact that there was no way to bullshit the current situation. Even if she wanted to try.

"I don't know." And she even closed her eyes as an effect to the uncertainty regarding their reaction.

Grey just tried to remain calm but by the looks of it, once Marceline opened her eyes to see what was the aftermath of her at the very least honest response, she came upon a close-to-seething boy hiding his face with what she assumed was burning rage. Why on Earth was he even angry? And with Keila patting the boy's back, she turned to Marceline again.

"Okay. So what? You're now just some tool she uses to post some woke shit online?" she said, a bit more concerned than she wanted to let on. She was also probably angry, but ah, when concern betrays everything else, right?

Marceline looked around, probably hyperaware. Like, _fuck_ , should she even be telling them any of these things? They weren't necessarily the best of things to share but they were also her friends. They knew enough of what was going on, and more than that, they probably already saw the copes of the post that were littered around all over the campus. They knew enough, was all that she had to think.

"I don't know. I don't know anything, Keila." She breathed out. "What I do know is that Bonnibel just wants to do some overly idealistic thing that I feel wouldn't really work out. I'm just… entertaining her? I don't know shit, my dude."

" _Entertaining her_ sounds exactly like what you're doing for her." Grey grumbled, a little calmer but definitely not completely appeased. "This definitely does not seem like something healthy. Marceline, we saw those posts. What if she tries to make a complete fool out of you?"

"Why don't you give her a little chance?" She said, not even thinking.

She was actually defending Bonnibel.

"She just wants to maybe make a difference with the whole shit going on in whatever grand scale thing. And she's trying to help us!"

Grey rubbed at his eyes but he tried to be level with her anyway.

"I do believe in Bonnibel, and while I applaud her cause, I cannot say I feel the same way as with her making you some sort of pawn in all of this. You have feelings for her and I'm not sure she—"

Before the chord could be struck at Marceline, Keila interjected. "Let's not go there, Grey."

Marceline knew, though. But what was she even really going to do about it?

They just resumed to eating their lunches.

Marceline carried the heavy weight of their judgement on her shoulders, nonetheless.

/-/-/

 _The ground was soft and nothing quite felt like it used to._

 _Marceline had just gotten the hang of living under Hunson's roof, but her mother had gotten to some really bad anxiety issues for reasons she did not quite understand at the time. Was she even really going to ask? How was she going to? She didn't know. She just sat there by the grassy backyard, staring up at the trees above her head._

 _"Marceline." Her mother called from inside the house. "Don't stay there, you might get bitten by something bad. We're not sure what is out there. Just… come inside."_

 _"Yes, mom. I'm coming."_

 _Marceline was just nine, so fair enough, there was really no argument in her head to be made. All she had to do was to listen and maybe her mother wouldn't give her too much of a hard time. Just maybe, really._

 _Upon entrance through the backdoor, she went back to the routine of being watched over her mother._

 _She needed to be patted off cleanly so any sign of dirt or what have you would be taken off of her body. She was to take a bath in hot water and was ordered to scrub herself down, and then afterwards, her mother would don her with an array of disinfectants and sanitizers. Marceline just… didn't know if she should say anything._

 _"I'm doing this for the better, honey."_

 _"Okay, mom."_

 _"You'll be healthy and that's what matters."_

 _"Okay, mom."_

-/-/-/-

Before she could really get to her car, someone tugged Marceline by the hood of her parka. She didn't really know how to retaliate but the next thing she knew was that she judo flipped Finn Mertens to the floor, and the boy barely had any time to react or do a counter.

"Hey! Easy, easy…"

Marceline, though, had this time to be pissed at someone besides Bonnibel and herself.

"The fuck you want, boy?"

"I want to apologize."

Well, that was a first.

"Elaborate, Mertens."

"I just…" Finn rubbed at his arm. "I've been an outright dick to you, and seeing you around Bonnie made me think that maybe you're messing with me or something."

"What a very typically egocentric straight male perspective thing of you to say."

"No, no. That's not what I meant to say—" he said, as if his cause was of any to be saved at the point of his supposed apology. "But then I saw the thing with the anonymous author and I realize that… maybe the humanities people aren't— maybe you're not as shit of a student as I thought you were and I'm really sorry about putting you that way. Maybe you're not just using Bonnie or something."

Marceline was conflicted as to whether punch him or accept his apology, so she settled for the middle man. "Look, Finn, to think that you only saw the struggles of a typical humanities student through a vague introduction of the distinct removal of a lot of the essential shit for our students by some… whatever writer… Well, I don't know. This approach is odd and I'm a little bit skeptical. I don't think I can accept your apology."

"Does it really seem that flimsy?" Finn said, jerking back upwards.

"Yes." She said, sourly. "And if you think I'm as fucking shallow to use Bonnibel in any way, you're just a fucking cuntbucket. I'm not you."

"You really think I'm like that?" And he actually sounded hurt.

Marceline didn't really think twice on it, though.

"Yeah. I do. Hurts, doesn't it?"

He just nodded, and stalked off. But he didn't leave without giving a little bit of a fright.

"Bonnie is starting a little rally but she's hoping to get the writer to post more stuff… I might join it, if only for your cause or whatever. I don't know what else that may imply though."

Her blood fell cold.

She didn't know shit.

-/-/-/-

As she did get home, too exhausted for much else, she happened upon her dad watching the news and grunting every so often.

"Murder after murder after murder. I've seen a lot, but I don't think I can stomach any of this." Hunson muttered, his head in his hands.

Marceline scooted to where he was seated.

"Dad? What's up…?"

He blinked, trying to process the fact that his daughter was actually physically there.

"No, nothing. Nothing is going on, haha." And he thought he was really believable, but Marceline didn't want to play along this time.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Then Hunson is back to having a distraught look.

"The whole thing rising with the cases of the backed up policing of extrajudicial killings. I'm not sure I can handle raising another more case on this…"

"Dad…" No words could really comfort something so heavy.

"How am I supposed to hold something so hard to be altruistic about in court…? I don't know, I'm starting to think you kids are right about some fascist dictatorship coming around."

"Dad, that's kind of serious, don't kid around with me like that…" And with a half-hearted shrug, Marceline tried to fake a laugh.

Hunson feigned laughter as well, but he just sat there trying to form the rest of his statement.

"Marceline, the whole funds thing… for the educational sector. They're being taken somewhere else. Like an incentive for some of the forces associated with these things." He waved vaguely at the screen. "I'm tired…"

Marceline just looked at the screen.

Some cause of a kid getting shot because of some… thing. About the kid opening up a public talk against the prime minister? That's… just. Sick. And other cases with petty reasons such as drug use, or… _alleged_ drug use.

No words.

Nothing she could say.


	16. Phrygian Scale

CHAPTER 13 - Phrygian Scale

The weight of the world was somehow dawning up on Marceline and she couldn't really breathe upon its gravity, the way that most things push on her when she is overwhelmed. There are no true words to say upon the remorse of anything but soon enough she found herself in the funeral of a fellow Scarborough University student.

"She was one of the kids from the humanities department," Bonnie grimly noted beside her. "One of the more prominent leaders of the socio-political clubs in the school, from what I can remember."

"You're making some sort of list in an itinerary, Bonnibel?" Marceline said, sourly. "Or some sort of collateral damage. A moment to sensationalize?"

Bonnibel looked like she was actually guilty. "I'm not that cold, Marceline. I'm still human, I'm still grieving."

"Then why do you look like you're plotting something?"

"It's just… It's not much on plotting but rather I'm troubled as to what had gotten this to this degree."

Marceline was skeptical but felt the sincerity bode from a look that she didn't quite see so often on Bonnibel. The more she looked at the redhead, the more she saw frustration personified. It was probably what would be considered the most raw and consistent part of Bonnibel and that was what Marceline was sure of. It wasn't something that the other girl frequently let others know, after all. It's a pride game.

With a little more attention to the details on her face, Marceline noted that Bonnie was starting to have dark circles underneath her eyes.

"Anything on your mind?" Marceline mumbled, just a little above a whisper. A little bit louder though, she added, "You look tired."

"I am aware I look like shit, thanks," Bonnie huffed. Looking her way though, she seemed less aggressive. "It's just a thing that happens. Sorry about that, really."

"You never really apologize on a regular basis."

"Even if I was easing myself into it, don't get used to it." Bonnibel hissed half-heartedly. She didn't even have that much energy to be much contradictory. Not a good sign, if anything.

"I see."

Bonnibel was silent as she just stared at the body in front of her.

The student was actually cleaned up really nicely in her little casket… if only the clear remainder of bullets shot wounds on her head weren't so prominent. It was as if it was a clear deliberate act. Possibly one that was more desperate than you'd think. Not exactly the kind of military expertise you'd hope from the police force but what have you, they treated a revolution believing scholar into some sort of crazed rebel. Bonnie was obviously fixated on that and it did not dwell so nicely with Marceline.

Before she thought twice on it, she found herself reaching out and holding Bonnibel's hand. Bonnie was a little shocked at the gesture, looking at her with what would be a curious glance, but she smiled anyway and held on tightly to the hand that held onto hers. That smile lifted off one of Marceline's worries for the meanwhile and she knew that it wouldn't be so bad even for just a little while.

They didn't even have to give a damn about everyone else in the room looking onto them. The silence they shared in small comfort in the funeral.

Maybe that'd make Marceline feel a little less guilty or responsible about things. Maybe the same would be for Bonnie.

-/-/-/-

They were up on a long drive a bit away from the city, in a clunky medium sized van of sorts, possibly to the beaches a little bit further away from their state. Marceline barely even let Hunson know where she was headed other than sending him a message saying she was, ad verbatim, "Out with Bonnie, won't be home till Monday morning." There were some things packed hastily, and other things just bought at random convenience stores that they passed by on the road.

Everything was dead quiet as they were just on a little dark road with the headlights being one of the few lights really illuminating the way. The night had an odd heat to eat, and Marceline didn't really feel like letting the strange rush of warmth take over in the atmosphere in the car yet. She let the air-conditioning come on blasting as it does as Bonnibel just sat there in silence, probably contemplating, hopefully not much to something grave or sinister. More likely it wasn't, but Marceline wasn't going to cross out that possibility. It was just a little odd that she was not out explaining things like some speech she was ready for was laid out already. The weight of a death incident within the campus somehow weighed that heavily on Bonnibel, though who wouldn't be badly affected in this kind of grand scheme of things?

"Bonnie?" she called out, looking at her slightly but trying to keep her eyes on the road as well.

Physically shrugging away her thoughts, Bonnibel stared back at Mareline. "Mhm?"

"Where do you wanna go?"

"We could go to that white sand beach we went to when we were kids. It's a free beach, right? We can just camp in with this car."

"Ah, yes, white sand beaches. That one is kind of far though. Are you sure you're up for that long kind of a drive? We might have to stop here and there."

Bonnibel mulled the thought over, biting at her lower lip and trying to assess the situation as they went by it. "Want me to drive some of the way?"

"Sure, but we do need to stop and take piss breaks when we can, you know."

"I am aware."

"And we might as well go to a bunch of drive-thrus."

"You're just really in the mood for something from Burger King, I assume?"

"I love their apple juice, I cannot lie."

"We have several juices in the trunk. Strawberry, apple, cherry…"

"Yes, but those are kool-aids and they don't count!" Marceline laughed. "They're kids stuff."

"You're saying that as if in general, juices aren't kids stuff."

"Not a real word, I think," Bonnibel smiled. "But fine, let's get to some Burger King magic and satisfy your apple juice cravings."

"Quench my thirst." Marceline concurred.

"Someone's thirsty?" Bonnibel winked.

"Not that kind of thirst, but I could be."

At that point, Bonnibel couldn't stop laughing, and Marceline couldn't stop laughing along with her. It was a kind of peace that was more heartwarming than she was willing to admit. Maybe at that point it was a bit of a fragile happiness but that's all that mattered at that time.

Bonnie was all that mattered.

"Hey, isn't that a Burger King drive-thru!"

"Marceline, _no_."

 _/-/-/_

 _"My kingdom will be complete and no force can tear it down." Bonnibel concurred, finishing the details left for her sand castle._

 _"I'm the guardian of this castle!" Marceline screeched in an ungodly pitch, so loud that her mother basically gave her disapproving looks from where she watched their things. She continued on with her hero-esque proclamations, still, continuing with "I am the castle guardian, guardian of the sand."_

 _"The waters quiver before her!" Bonnibel chimed in, laughin heartily as Marceline went on to dig a trench for their lovely little… castle… fort… thing._

 _"Mhmm, we make a great team." Marceline said._

 _"Agreed. Now we have to watch over it."_

 _"Nah, Bon, Let's go for a swim," Marceline urged excitedly. "The sandcastle will stand still, right? We built a trench and everything. We can let it be for a while."_

 _Bonnie looked a bit torn, looking between the waters, Marceline, and the sandcastle that she had built. She resigned though, as she saw the glimmer of the sea and the rush that Marceline made to wade back into the water._

 _"You really think it would be safe?" the little redhead asked._

 _"It'll be fine," Marceline smiled, coming around and pulling the younger girl up her feet. "You're safe with me."_

 _"I asked about the castle."_

 _With a cheeky grin, Marceline splashed and waded a bit in the water. "Come on, Bon."_

 _Bonnie found herself swimming after her, the sandcastle soon forgotten._

 _They don't even remember if it fell or not, because they forgot about it until after they got back to the Candy Towers. All they knew is that it once stood, and for that time it was really all that mattered._

 _-/-/-/-_

Bonnie was building another sandcastle this time.

The funny thing about being a kid and seeing the grown up self is the attention to details. Perhaps kids looked at details in a different way. Both kids and grown-ups are very into details… it is just the kind of details that came about that was different. It wasn't much on intricate things, but there was something awfully distinct about its nature that Marceline was slightly sure was an effect of an overbearing familiarity that she did not want to acknowledge at any cost at all.

Still, the way that Bonnie came up to piece up the windows and other details was very astounding. Marceline would've gotten to taking pictures if she hadn't gotten so preoccupied with eating her fill of Burger King goods. She didn't even particularly like the food there… the apple juice was just a craving. Whatever, she got her fill and she would eat it and that's what matters.

Bonnie got off of the sand and washed it off, patting her hands up on a towel a bit after.

"So what are we supposed to do now, captain?" she asked Marceline, coming close to the car and opening up the back.

"We set up camp on this little beachy place."

"I'm assuming you mean making a bed at the back of this van."

"Of course."

"What is this? We became some sort of indie hipster couple that does weird aesthetic things like that?" Bonnie laughed.

The term "couple" made Marceline's heart stutter. "Couple?"

"Hm?" Bonnibel said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah... couple. I assumed that would have been the case as evidenced with what we are considering our recent outings and such."

"Hmm…" Marceline hummed, arranging back some of the things at the back of the van, probably a bed and the like that would at the very least be comfortable for the both of them.

It was all a bit of silence as Marceline finally managed to fix the place. The night had already begun to come by then, so it was with much pleasure that they got to sitting in the little makeshift space to watch the dusk come into place.

"I didn't think you considered us that kind of thing." Marceline murmured. "I thought it was all bullshit to you, honestly."

"Just because I don't say anything, doesn't mean you don't mean to me in that romantically twisted way," Bonnibel said, in equally hushed tones as they lay there. Backs rested, they faced the ceiling. "I'm sorry. I'm not necessarily good at expressing myself, if you haven't noticed."

"Same."

"So, yeah. I just thought it was an established thing… that maybe… we could be kind of exclusive?"

"Maybe, maybe;" Marceline paused. "Actually… yeah, I'd like that."

"Had your doubts?"

"Honestly, yes."

"The ever great Marceline Abadeer doubts romance? I thought she was a smooth player. Doubting your skills now?"

Marceline turned to face her, which was a prompt that somehow got Bonnibel to also turn her way. The seriousness in that probably was not expected.

"While I would indulge you on how totally false that is, I'd wanna say I've been worried about you."

Bonnibel was a bit confused at that, but didn't say a word. Marceline continued.

"Ever since we were at the funeral earlier, you've been kind of out of wits and or quiet. Or both? Kind of?" Marceline rambled. "You're not usually like that."

Before she could really come up with something to say, Bonnie found Marceline reaching out to play with the fine threads in her hair.

"Don't lie, it shook you in some way." Marceline whispered. "And that's fine… you can be a little… off. But I'm here for you."

"I'm a bit scared, Marceline." Bonnibel said. That was a surprise to the both of them, but Bonnibel looked empty yet a bit too much into wanting to cry. "The petition or anything Scarborough Uni related shouldn't have gone down to murder an innocent student."

"More importantly, she was a victim before that, Bon," Marceline said resolutely. "She was affected by the system and spoke out."

"Shoko shouldn't really have done anything of that sort."

"Shoko?"

"That was her name, apparently." Bonnibel sighed. "She had some sort of hero complex, which basically got her to join that partylist advocate group in school."

"How are you so affected by this? Do you really think the petition thing would've caused it? I mean… there was already a problem. The petition was made to fix it."

"Yes, but…" Bonnibel got to choosing her words as she went. "Of course students would've rallied for it, you know? That is a risk that I failed to really put into the equation. And some great outlier of one dead student is still a great damage to everything… it's a huge loss in itself."

"That's not your fault, Bonnibel," Marceline reassured her. "You want to fight for something and you were trying to get to it… the fact that they stood up to it is a sign that it's going somewhere."

"Marceline…"

"The fact that they're taking such grave actions against mere students is something fishy to begin with, you know?" Marceline sighed. "There's a problem. A huge, underlying problem."

Coming closer to cuddle, they let the sea breeze in.

Before long though, Marceline felt Bonnie cry just a little bit. It faded quickly with the patter of the rain, so Marceline got to closing the backdoors of the van, beckoning Bonnie to come over and look at something.

"The sandcastle is getting ruined by the rain. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I am…" Bonnie hummed, wiping at residue tears. "Some empires fall, after all."

"Same with oppressive governments that derail a well-rounded education for some deliberate funding for a different force?" Marceline joked.

"Probably." Bonnie smiled.

"Probably." Marceline concurred.

"Maybe... Maybe we should stop the writing thing..." Bonnibel said, for once, doubting the entire thing.

Marceline surprised herself that time though.

"No, Bonnie."

"What?"

"I think it's more of a reason to continue, if I'm being really honest."

The smile that lit up Bonnie's face pretty much made up for the anxiety suddenly pitting at her stomach.

If they could make it a fraction better by letting some kids know the tea on the daily issues of Scarborough, then so be it. For now, they just let the rain fall and watched while they kept warm in the backseat.

Everything else can just follow.


	17. Ionian Scale

CHAPTER 14 - Ionian Scale

They decided to be more open about their relationship but a little bit more closeted on their little run in intricately planning little essays against the Prime Minister. Bonnibel seemed to have relaxed a little, and Marceline was a little happier with that development. It was like they were suddenly playing on the easiest of modes and none of the notes are in sharps of flats. No complicated harmonics and the like. Everything was just… a calm. A simple calm, as ominous as that sounds. They were going to be chill about the critical situation, as if walking on eggshells; but this time, Marceline had a drive that actually made the most of it as she tried to figure out what to write next.

Everything was like a piece falling on its own way, and somehow that little spark became enough of an ignition to what was a dampening fire of sorts.

That would've been a simpler way to put it. The more she thought of it, Marceline felt a bit insensitive for the Shoko incident and that made her as much guilty as she is driven. And speaking of Shoko, the student body was starting to rile up after the whole "student got shot" incident. Some, as expected, were deterred from actually saying anything, but for the greater population, they were a little more on the "deer on the headlights" moment, wondering what on Earth they could do, considering these were antics that were not necessarily easy to address.

Perhaps that was the one silver lining at the point of Shoko's… untimely death. As much as it was a loss, some people really did need some sort of wake-up call. The sad part of the loss is whether or not the message actually stuck to the others at all, though evidently enough, people weren't at all pleased, and Simon even went up to make some sort of assembly for a little talk of sorts.

Tapping on the mic up at the podium, he cleared his throat and tried to catch the attention of everyone in the auditorium.

"You're the second batch I have to handle today," the weary superintendent sighed. "You kids should know that this is taking its toll on me. I'm only in my forties and my hair is going to go white because of the tension."

"What the heck is going on, anyway?!" an angry student from far out back shouted. It would've been close to gone with the waves of noises actually prevailing in the auditorium, but Simon caught wind of it anyway.

"Well, to say, we wanted to address the financing and the student body's loss…" Simon began, shushing the entire student body. Amazing how such somber things can bring out the weariness to just make everyone shut the fuck up.

"Can you tell us more about it?" Finn said. He actually sounded concerned about it.

That probably moved Marceline. Maybe just a little bit.

Bonnibel was looking sternly at him, but relaxed as she held onto Marceline's arm.

"Finn," Simon sighed. "Actually, yes, everyone should know."

"Get on with it, old man!" someone from the back screeched again.

Losing a bit of patience, Simon shouted, slamming a fist on the podium. _"I'm getting there! If you would so politely just calm down, mister, or I'll have the guard on duty make you leave the premises."_

And back to silence so deafening, you could pretty much hear a pin drop.

Marceline shrugged, deciding to speak up. "So?"

"So…" he said, regaining composure. "The issue regarding the displacement of the funds is real, and we are sorry that we were not as transparent with it as we should have been. Being a mostly government controlled and funded school, and the premier state university at that, we were the one to take the biggest hit out of everything. The budget was taken to other sectors of the Prime Minister's billing, but we can't really say much on where he pocketed it away."

"We're sure you have your reasons…" Sae Na said, appearing from behind Finn. "But why exactly did the cut come mostly from the Humanities department? Shouldn't there have been some sort of equal cut out of every department?"

Simon looked flummoxed, and Marceline almost felt disappointed in him. It is kind of true that he didn't really elaborate on that one crucial factor.

"We were planning on taking away the humanities department as a whole—"

Cue sudden audible gasps.

"And yes, while that is much… of a dismay… the Prime Minister felt that the fields are dispensable and… No, wait…"

The students were getting rowdier as the speech was coming down. It was the kind of "truth" that they didn't really want to hear, and the fact that the "truth" was merely a misconstrued opinion ruining the possible future of a large population of college students should be made obvious as something to cause some sort of ill ease among them all.

"So that's what Shoko died for?" Finn said, a little bit loudly.

"Miss Shoko had her own duties, Mertens. It is not in our hands as to what had happened to her—"

He was serious and not as peppy or energetic or obnoxious as he would be on a regular basis. It was as if he was gone on some sort trance and nobody really had the mood or guts to really question it. It was obvious that he was perturbed.

"A student died – was _killed_ – because you guys had to follow through with a reckless decision that wasn't openly given to the students. There are still humanities students – what would happen to them if you suddenly shut down their department, huh?" he seethed.

"Finn…" Simon stammered. "Look, son…"

"Don't 'son' me, Petrikov." Finn shouted. "That was my sister! She died trying to maintain the humanities department in open _peaceful_ protesting."

"Finn—"

"And… and for every other student, what would you have done? They would just be let go from the university? Give them an incomplete degree from something you had to pay for that basically taught you nothing?"

"My boy, please…"

"Petrikov, what would the student body have done? Would you transfer the students to other departments? And when we don't have enough of a budget, would you cut our departments down again?"

 _"It wasn't any of my goddamn plans! I needed to listen or he'll have my head!"_

Simon was about to rage out again, looking as if he was on his limits, but Finn was walking up to the podium at that point. Phoebe tried to calm him down, but at that point she knew that Finn's points were valid… So she let him go.

Finn came around to punching Simon and kicking him as the old man curled up to avoid the assault.

The entire assembly just watched on, but some souls went on their way to taking videos of the assault. Before long, though, Jake came in to stop his brother from beating the man into an outright pulp.

"Bro… bro, it is alright. The man didn't do anything… he's just the superintendent… come on now, bro…" Jake reassured. "Everything will be okay. But we have to go now, or we'll be a bit in trouble."

Marceline couldn't believe her eyes at that point, but she didn't know what to do but watch it unfold. It was funny how she was just there, standing, back to being an audience in the little assault. Bonnibel was frigid through everything, but her presence was more or less felt. She probably would have done something had Bonnie not been holding onto her the entire time.

But there it was, the end of the assembly left a heavily injured Simon.

The medic came for the superintendent, collecting all his paraphernalia along with them as they hauled him up into the stretcher. The clinic would've been a tad of a hassle, being on the opposite part of the university, but that was remedied by the school ambulance.

Marceline wanted to go after him, but she was still distraught over the decisions that he and the council had opened up to.

Yeah, fucking transparency. That would be the nice way to put how he said things. He just drops fucking bombs and expects the entire situation to diffuse. While that was actually something to really be thankful for in one way or another, it was still something to really own up and be responsible with it outside of giving a statement. Did it even count as an "official" statement? It was unnerving for Marceline, and it would probably be the same for Bonnibel.

"How are you feeling, Marce?" Bonnie asked, as they got to their own in their free cut period remaining from what would have been the rest of the scheduled assembly.

"I'm feeling like shit," she answered. "But more because I'm real fuckin' disappointed."

"How so?"

"I wanted something better than, 'Because the Humanities department is dispensable,'" pause. "There was a lot of what the Prime Minister would call as 'collateral damage' in his greater scheme of things, and I'm pretty sure what Finn did would be sensationalized in his media."

Bonnie blinked. "Sensationalized?"

"Yeah?" Marceline blurted out. "I mean, did you see how many kids were taking videos of the thing going on? It's going to go viral and people are going to have to make their own weird sliced up version of what happened."

Bonnie tried to assess everything in her pretty little analytical head. "So somehow the situation of Finn's little misdemeanor would be…?"

"Like… I feel like it's bad because it's an easy target to really get news out of."

"How so?"

"Because he openly retaliated over something the superintendent said. And he was more or less screaming about stuff like contradictions to the newer budgeting and policies or whatever." Marceline shrugged.

"Isn't that how fake news come around?" Bonnie prompted.

"Biased and sensationalized?" Marceline said, encouraging that line of conversation.

"Yes… Like, the reason why we become heralds of non-truth is because we fixate on specific issues rather than rotate among causations." Bonnie concurred. "When we fixate on one piece of news, it becomes a catastrophe to and it becomes some sort of embodiment of everything going wrong."

"It becomes calcified into a reason and stereotype? We are somehow feeding on knowledge only readily prepared. We are close to being victims, really."

"One way or another, you can put it that way. Also, calcified is such a fancy term."

Marceline brought it into her own thought, she figured it would make the best use of her time to go along with the idea of news as a the next essay to get on.

"Hey, Bonnie, you don't like Fox News, right?"

"Fuck Fox News."

"Yeah, they can just suck it."

/-/-/

 _"Marceline," her mother called her._

 _Running up to her, practically bouncing with anticipation, Marceline practically shouted. "Is Uncle Simon going to visit again today?"_

 _"Yes," her mother replied, smiling._

 _To be honest, the only times that Marceline ever recalled her mother being lax about things would be when she was hanging out with Simon. Marceline was happy with that, and she was pretty sure it was just a bit of chilling here and there._

 _Soon enough, when he did arrive at their door in the apartment, he came with goods like strawberries and apples and a variety of candy. Not that Marceline really was a candy fan but she certainly loved the ones that Simon gave her for every visit_

 _"Simon!"._

 _"Marcy! Wanna read this book I published? It's about ancient artifacts in…"_

 _It went on like that. He'd call her mother, they'd have a chat and all that. High school buds or whatever. It seemed idyllic and Marceline felt that it was good company especially since sometimes Simon would go on and tell her ridiculous stories mostly centering on past events like wars and the like._

 _Sad to say though, once Simon introduced his girlfriend Betty to Marceline's mother, the tension emanating from her mother was not something that went unnoticed._

 _"Mom, when will Uncle Simon come back?"_

 _"When I get to talk to your father, honey."_

 _"You're… actually talking to dad?"_

 _For some reason, she never really did understand the way her mother was going about things. She thought it might have been some sort of adult thing. Even much into the future, growing up, Marceline still didn't understand._

-/-/-/-

Sitting at her desk and typing away was probably the most ideal thing to be done at that time of night and Marceline did not really feel much else to do than what she was on about anyway. She had done her homework, made some revisions, and was ready to bite whoever again. Hopefully figuratively, because biting for real was reserved for Bonnie.

Upon the post of her latest rant on current issues and sensationalized bias, she received a message from an unlikely person.

 _knightinfurrybearcap_ sent a message to _suckstolovered_ :

 _Hello? Hey, ah… I was hoping to get something out of my chest in regards to some issues going around… you see, my sister was… she was—_

The message, well.

That was something.


	18. Modes

CHAPTER 15 - Modes

"Finn and Shoko are siblings?" Bonnie muttered. "What a whirl, I really did not know."

"I think this is some sort of under the radar kind of thing because it is as if no one really did know." Marceline added as she shuffled her position on Bonnibel's lap. "Apparently, Shoko was an adopted older sister or something like that."

"This is a plot twist that I did not quite expect," Bonnie drawled, playing with Marceline's hair. "I mean, no one really knew Shoko existed until the shooting incident."

"Mm."

Marceline was just ready to let the feeling of Bonnibel's hand threading through her hair send her off to sleep. Soft and slow, steady and all that jazz. It was quite relaxing to be honest, so having the hand suddenly go away from that spot on her head made Marceline a little shaken.

Looking back up at Bonnie, Marceline almost couldn't stop the weird rush in her stomach as she watched the redhead ponder on something… Probably back to the petition, but either way, the way she concentrated was kind of cute. Well, she kind of missed out on this feeling – what even is this.

"So, what did Finn ask of you?" Bonnie mumbled, poking at her cheek.

"He basically asked me to make some sort of post revolving around Shoko's death," Marceline said, reaching out to toy with Bonnie's hair. "He kind of made the point that I'm the Anonymous Scarborough Student and it seems that he kind of got won over by our… cause?"

"If that's really how you'd define what we've been doing for the past few weeks, I'd like to think that Finn is really bold on that one and I can't really refute that."

"Think it's mighty and bold or whatever?"

"Both he and Shoko probably have some sort of Hero-Complex." Bonnie shrugged, going back to her little thing on Marceline's hair. "Heroes don't really get anywhere pleasant, sadly."

"Ah, as evidenced by…" Marceline came to a pause as Grey and Keila came up to them.

"The lovebirds having their little fun within campus?" Grey said, nodding at the two of them. "Bonnie, I thought you were more intent on the policies against public displays of affection."

Bonnibel laughed at that. "I'm sorry, yeah I was a bitch with a stick up my ass. But what can I say?" She prompted for them to sit by the grass next to them. "Sit, friends of my girlfriend. You may be graced with my presence."

Grey and Keila smiled and just sat by to chill in the area.

"So, you guys have finally gotten to an actual label?" Keila asked.

Shifting around again on Bonnie's lap, Marceline got to answering the question. "I guess? I mean, pretty much."

"When did all this happen?" Grey urged.

"Uhhh… When we disappeared from the face of the Earth for a weekend or so."

They left it at that as they went on to their own devices. Keila and Grey were just drifting off to some sort of sleep position on the university's lawn as Bonnie and Marceline remained at their own sedentary state.

It would've been a nicer experience had Finn not barraged into their little special circle of solitude.

"Bonnie!" he called out. "Bon—" Finn took a few steps behind as he observed the area.

"Yes, Finn?" Bonnie drawled, continuing her ministrations on Marceline's hair. "You seem to be in a rush."

Finn looked at Bonnie to Marceline, and the expression on his face was either laughable or judgmental. Either way, he looked peeved but Marceline couldn't really give a damn but the feeling of being subjected to such a gaze full of malice isn't her favorite past time.

"Anything to say, Finny Boy?" she said, turning to face him from where she was, but not really getting off of Bonnie's lap.

Seeming as if to shake himself out of it, he took some time to pause on whatever he was thinking about. Though, frankly, it didn't really register so much for him to be subtle about the first thing on his mind.

"Are you guys dating or something?"

Looking at each other for a moment, Bonnie ended up snorting and that got another smile from Marceline.

"Mhmm," she responded. "Jealous?"

"No…" with the way his face flushed though, it seemed to be otherwise. "Just curious."

"Is that all you really came for?" Bonnie urged, raising a brow. "I thought you'd have had something of importance."

"I…" he paused as if to register what he had to say. As if a big bulb suddenly lit up, and his face followed suit to that expression. "The petition you're putting up!"

"Uh… yes? What about it?"

"I want to help out with it!"

Bonnie looked at him, not sure whether to take him seriously or not. Considering recent events and the loss from his family, maybe it would be nice for him, and to have someone to help around with filing papers to government offices is also quite pleasant. But the thing is, the whole thing was at some sort of critical standpoint.

"How do you propose to do so?" Bonnie inquired, with a tilt to her head.

He fell silent at that. But he just… raised two thumbs up. Well, that was definitely a huge help to the cause, and though silly of a response it was, Marceline laughed. Sometimes boys can have their charms, huh? Even dense ones, like Finn. It is so easy to pity the fool.

Grey threw some grass off into Finn's direction, and the action pretty much confused everyone in the group at that moment.

"You sure you're not doing this just to get a lass, ye?" he said, rolling his eyes.

Finn was taken aback, his expression getting a little somber. "No… I… It's something more personal than that, I suppose."

Marceline contemplated on that.

It was personal for Finn.

It was for Shoko.

Grey scoffed and got back to his resting place, and the day went on.

-/-/-/-

"Marceline," a voice called out. "Miss Abadeer."

Great, it's the amazing lemon head. Always leaving a sour taste in the mouth, that bitch.

"Sir Lim?" she said, forcing a smile. "What can I do for you? Is there something I need to attend to?"

He cleared his throat, looking straight at the girl. It would be comical that he was rather short, but the gaze he held made no room for jest and whatever funnies Marceline could really think of.

"Miss Abadeer," he intoned unnecessarily, "I must say I'm a bit surprised by your current record. Student reports say you've actually been showing initiative in school."

Befuddled, Marceline inserted her hands into her pockets and looked at him, perplexed.

"I'm not sure why this appears to be a problem."

"It's rather suspicious, Miss Abadeer," the dean said. "Such an exponential difference in performance can mean a lot of things."

Marceline shrugged at that, but she really just did not care. She just attended school more often, so what? It doesn't have to imply that she was actually doing shitty and unforgiveable school-related crimes, as would what Linus would imply.

"Linus—" Marceline started.

"Respect, Miss Abadeer." He stressed. "I am your dean."

"Dr. Lim," she hissed, instead. "You would know that my performance is just by my additional attendance and would have nothing to do with any breaks against school regulations."

"Ah yes," he squinted at her. "We also hear you've been around Miss Park a lot as of late."

"And is that a problem?"

"Considering her recent actions against the school officials…" he leered. "Maybe it is."

Marceline felt like wanting to punch Linus. He would be directly affected by the cut of the humanities department and he was going around in an accusatory manner at students who want to make it otherwise? What kind of backwards thinking were these old folks really thinking through.

Still, with gritted teeth, she pointed things out anyway. "Isn't it a daring thing though, Dr. Lim? That somebody be so bold to openly go against this status quo?"

He hissed her way.

"With that kind of thinking, Miss Abadeer, all you'll end up with are casualties."

That line sent a burning ire in Marceline's head, but she had to keep her thoughts in straight or else she might have pounded him on the head by then. Besides… What was wrong with him? He had everything to lose had the humanities department be cut. He shouldn't be so guttural about it considering his position but there he goes whisking away the ambition of students as the day go by.

Either way, she was going to go around and sulk when she caught Bonnibel's eye.

"Hey, honey, is everything alright?"

"No." she confessed. "I'm pissed as fuck."

"What's wrong?"

"Lim is a bitch with a stick up his ass."

"I think that is something we both have already known for the duration we've known him."

"But he doesn't give a fuck if the humanities department gets dissolved, and he's the one running it, right?"

Bonnie's face went pale to that. She thought that having consulted the Lemon-head would've somehow come to better effect but it appears that she was swindled out of the lack of reprieve and into a worse fate. She didn't know how to adjust the petition without the one man manning the system of the humanities department showing even the least bit of support.

"How exactly did he phrase it, Marceline?" she asked, tentatively.

"Talking about doing anything only causes more casualties or whatever."

Bonnie got her thinking face on again and she was just a little bit more pensive than Marceline would count her as on a regular basis.

"So, the basic figurehead o the humanities department is basically acting like he's ditching the department?" Bonnie asked, frustrated.

"It seems so, Bonnibel."

"Then I guess we better get to work then."

/-/-/

Marceline didn't know what to make of interactions with other people.

Her mother kept her sheltered and unaware of much of the outside world. She was barely existent, really. She was just fleeting by the wind only bound by the attention of her mother. More or less, she should be a little pissed but she knew how to abide. She was only a wee child, so there really was not much to do about it.

On that one day walking around the park of Candy Towers, though… the one day she met Bonnibel – there was something about that small interaction that basically opened a lot of doors for her. She had a friend, and perhaps she had a mild crush on the little girl. (Was that weird?) She was just happily prompting herself up to cloud nine because Bonnie was just the first friend she ever had. That automatically made her the best, right?

She sat by, shuffling the deck of Greek philosophers. She found distaste in the deck, but she loved the Joker card because she was the only lady in there. She knew she wanted to give it to Bonnibel and she hoped that a small gesture would actually make the other a little happier than anything. She was happy… but then that happiness was soon to b vanquished.

"Marceline, pack up already. We're leaving."

"Leaving?" Marceline asked, confused. "To where? I didn't think we were going on a trip again till later in the year."

"We're leaving this dump," Her mother sneered. "We're going to a newer, better place."

Marceline felt the tightness in her chest make her feel like she wanted to collapse at that very second.

"But Bonnie is here."

"So?"

The little snide reply struck Marceline.

"Let me do something first…" Marceline said, taking the deck and running off and out the door.

"Marceline!"

Her mother was frustrated, but Marceline couldn't give a damn.

She just didn't want to leave Bonnie.

-/-/-/-

Bonnie had Marceline stay over at her house for the meanwhile, and Hunson agreed. The man was probably stressed as he could be, but he was just coping for the most part and… Marceline felt for that.

Having reviewed (discreetly and without his consent) some papers and cases that he had to take. It appeared that being a volunteer lawyer was also taking its toll on Hunson as he was taking case by case of more students going into protests and close to more cases of the more… gory… kind. It was almost like Marceline was reading through police brutality and the sheer exhaustion that her father faced was easily understood. At that point, she almost wanted out, but that wouldn't have been ideal, right?

Bonnie hummed and stroked Marceline's hair as if to give some form of comfort, small as it could be. Marceline just hummed along, trying to find some peace if anything. She still scribbled drafts for the next post that she wanted to endorse for Bonnie.

"You're working hard, dear."

"Time is always running out."

"Ssh."

The gentle hum from Bonnie was enough to ease Marceline.

All they want is peace. Maybe that small fraction would suffice… for now.


	19. Minor Scale

CHAPTER 16 – Minor Scale

The feeling of Bonnibel's body suddenly rising at the sound of knocking on the door meant that it was probably _not_ Piper, and the way Marceline felt her cover up her body a tad more than normal made her feel that maybe she herself should be hiding under the bed or something. More or less, she felt the tension coming from Bonnie's body, so much that the other girl wasn't even giving her any sort of instruction. Before Marceline could really ask, the door was almost being prompted into being opened, so she rushed to hiding under the bed, dragging her clothes and shoes with her.

Marceline could hear Bonnie sighing a bit as she shuffled a bit underneath. It really didn't feel comfortable, but the thought that _maybe_ Bonnie was a little bit relieved and a little less out of trouble was good. The voices she heard though, brought her own dread, in a way. Those two voices brought different feelings, though.

"Hello, Bonnie." Robert said, smiling. Marceline could barely recognize him, but his voice was soft and familiar. He was charming about it, as far as she can tell. He was possibly oblivious.

"Bonnibel," the redhead's uncle greeted grimly. "Why are you underdressed?"

"I felt warm last night, uncle," she lied. "I had a fever of sorts."

Piper was behind the door, as far as Marceline could tell. He tapped in to defend Bonnibel but the older man grunted.

"Piper, I know you'd say and agree for Bonnibel, and frankly I don't give a shit," he said tersely.

The whole room went stiff and quiet.

Not much to Marceline's knowledge, Bonnibel's uncle took a glance at Bonnie's bed and the floor just by it. He prompted to stepping over some stray groups of hair of Marceline's that she hoped were not actually seen since the lights weren't really flicked on. She also hoped to God that what he was doing wasn't in any way intentional. The way he twisted it about though made it seemed otherwise.

Bonnibel tried to appear as if she wasn't shaken, and her uncle remained nonchalant as he really wasn't doing anything. Robert was probably confused and Piper would've tried to keep an expression that would've betray Bonnie. Marceline was having a hard time with that, as her hair was being pinched around and her head was kind of hurting from the uncle's actions.

Seeing that nothing (or no one) retaliated, the old man stopped and turned away, and Marceline dragged her hair back to inspect it. It was mostly put up in tangles, and was somewhat torn in some ends, but nothing too serious. No one seemed to have noticed, still.

"Anyway, Robert is here for the week," the old man smiled, patting at Robert's back. "He'll be in the house for a while and I hope you'd at least be a good sister, Bonnibel."

"He's my brother, Uncle Bernard. My _older_ brother. Not only can he take care of himself, but he's more responsible for me and Neddy, if anything."

"Stop that snappy attitude of yours, Bonnibel." Her uncle snapped.

"Uncle, what's wrong with you?" Robert interrupted, obviously unnerved, and rightfully so. "She's my _sister_ , I don't expect you to act like this. You are family, yes, but I hardly ever recall you being tasked anything for us."

The old man in question looked stunned, but he just smiled and tried to regain his composure. "Of course, Robert. Just looking out for you all, I mean." He got to walking out the door and shutting it with a noticeable thud.

Piper breathed out but did not leave the room, watching over as Robert sat at the foot of Bonnie's bed.

The silence stretched a bit, but unsurprisingly, Bonnie got to talking first.

"Marceline, you can come back on the bed now."

"But I'm naked."

"Hide yourself with the sheets, sweetie."

Marceline kicked her paraphernalia back out as she snuck in through the sheets carefully, since she didn't really want Robert or Piper to see her naked body as it was. Voyeurism and exhibitionism weren't to Marcy's fancy. Once on the bed, she tucked herself nicely as she snugged much closer to Bonnibel.

Piper locked the door behind him but remained in the room, looking back at Robert, waiting and expecting something. Anything, as Marceline was doing, as well.

"So, Bonnie… you have a girlfriend?" Robert said, smiling. He raised his brow in effect. It was kind of weird because it was like looking at a spitting image of Bonnibel in male form.

Marceline has met Robert before and had interacted with him in her younger years. Just seeing him now was a bit of a shocker, considering… puberty. And being blessed by genetics, he is actually really cute. Like Bonnie, of course, but that's a given.

Whatever. She was supposed to be focusing on the situation.

"Yes, Bob," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. "She's my girlfriend. Why else do you think would she be here, buck naked, on my bed?"

"Maybe she could've been a fuck buddy," he hummed. "Or some one-night stand or whatever."

"I don't have time to look for hook-ups, especially on a weeknight. I'm a busy girl."

With a raised eyebrow, Robert gave both of them a once over. "Yeah, I can see that."

"Not what I meant, Robert." Bonnibel said, rubbing at her temples.

Marceline raised a brow, though. She didn't really know whether she was allowed to interrupt, but she decided to anyway.

"Don't you have a girlfriend, Rob?"

Robert blinked, his smile fading a bit before he started cackling.

"Nah, nobody would want to date my ass." Robert said, through small fits of laughter. "I'm not very dateable."

"Maybe I'd have to see for myself." Marceline laughed, winking.

Though Robert laughed along, Bonnibel wrapped an arm around Marceline and did a little bit of grip around her as if claiming some sort of possession on her. She wasn't taking things lightly as of now, obviously.

"Okay, Robert. So why are you here?" Bonnie asked sternly, her brows furrowed and her stance asking for no bullshit. She probably would've had more ammo, had she not been naked in bed with Marceline right there and then.

Robert seemed to not care, not taking away his charming smile. "I'm back because I'm tasked to do a surveying of the state. I'll also be doing an interview with the Prime Minister."

"Why the fuck would you want to meet that fucking Lich?" Bonnibel spat, catching everyone but Piper off guard. Piper just looked like he was all sorts of angry, really.

"This interview is important for the surveying for my study, Bonnibel." Robert reassured. "Nothing to do with what had happened years ago."

Marceline grew confused but by the grip Bonnibel had both on the sheets and on her were indicators that it wasn't something pleasant in any way at all. It was close to either being a threat or a sign of fear, and Marceline's own protective instincts set on.

"Hey Robert, maybe it's time you backed off for now." She said, in an attempted loose voice.

He just shrugged. "I'll meet with Neddy in the other room. You do whatever, Bon."

Piper moved aside to open the door for him and as he was about to close the door, he looked to Bonnie for some sort of command. Bonnie motioned for him to leave, so he did, shutting the door behind him. You could also hear the click, giving the indication that he locked the door for him. What a lovely little man, he was. Marceline appreciated him more at that moment.

She threw a nearby slipper at the door, and grunted. "Fucking narcissistic lying ass."

Bonnie got back under the covers and pulled Marceline close. It was so forceful – forceful enough to actually hurt Marceline, but Marceline hugged her as tightly as she could.

"What's up, Bon?"

"Nothing."

"That doesn't sound like nothing."

Instead of actually answering straight away, she just remained silent and held on longer to Marceline.

"Let's get ready for school, sweetie." Marceline urged instead.

"Okay," Bonnibel said, still not as enthused as Marceline had hoped. "I'd like to haul my ass out of this house anyway."

"That sounds better."

Before anything, there were knocks on the door that came banging that were more insistent and erratic.

"Bonnie," a slightly nasal young adult's voice came through. "Robert is making me feel bad. He be talkin' about Lich man again." He was sniffling and crying.

"I'll get dressed and we can talk, Neddy."

"Okay…" the voice on the other end said.

Bonnie and Marceline got to it, and Bonnie opened the door and got to comforting the boy.

"It's okay, sweetie…" Bonnie hummed, singing a slight tune.

Marceline came to singing along to that, and Neddy perked up.

"Thank, Lady." He said, wiping at his tears, and walking away.

Bonnibel was quiet then. Marceline held her.

-/-/-/-

The way that Bonnibel looked like from the passenger seat was oddly attractive, but it was mostly because there was this added feeling of intimidation stemming from her. She was dead serious, and if Marceline hadn't known her better, she'd probably be feeling like Bonnie was just trying to bring out her usual "business" face. But no, this was like some sort of angst issue and though the other girl hasn't really said anything on the matter, it had something to do with the Prime Minister.

Now the petition and the entire thing looked a lot more personal for Bonnibel to Marceline. It was as if Bonnibel looked like a little girl trying to give a big fuck you to a scary, foreboding old man.

Getting by with that thought, Marceline shrugged as she concentrated on the road in front of her.

"Hey Bonnie."

"Mm?"

"Do you dislike the Prime Minister for more than just the government thing?"

Bonnie just shrugged. "He is a bad person. That's all you need to know."

"Bonnibel."

"He's a shitty person."

"Bonnie…"

Bonnibel didn't respond anymore after that, remaining steadfast in just looking ahead as Marceline drove her car to school. She looked like she was trying to lock her jaw into not speaking, so Marceline just reached out and held onto her hand.

At least Bonnie let her.

Even as the school was appearing into view, Bonnie didn't care much to let go of Marceline's grasp. It was almost as if she was desperate to show affection though she was still locked into setting herself in silence. Marceline responded by holding her by the waist as if to show some sort of respect to however Bonnibel may be feeling. Bonnie relaxed to the touch… but still nothing. No words were allowed to be let slip from Bonnie, still, and Marceline was starting to itch for something. Anything.

No one really did pay mind, and no one really did care. Finn got to looking twice but he merely gave a wave and looked the other direction. Walking to the lockers at the science department wing and settling to just holding Bonnie's hand, Marceline motioned to walk away to go back to her department, but Bonnie kept her hold on her hand.

"Don't go yet." She said, trying to seem unaffected and cold, but she was just not being convincing. "I want to do some petition work with you."

"That involves ditching class," Marceline said, raising a brow. "Are you really the Bonnibel I know? It's barely into Wednesday, even."

"I don't give a shit." Bonnie shrugged. "We have some work we need to do and we _will_ get it done." It almost sounded like a demand, but it also had the hint of sounding like a need. Marceline relented.

"Where do you suggest we even do this, mademoiselle?"

"I dunno. Maybe we could go to a coffee shop?"

"Wow, that sounds too cliché and much like the typical college hang-out," Marceline drawled. "Too many people. Let's go to my house."

Marceline guessed that maybe Bonnie wouldn't want to be home for a while, but the bet on having to deal with her father possibly doting on them still lay bare there. He was busy, but Bonnie was a girlfriend, and having a lot of time and space in the house and the fenced forest property could have a lot of things he'd make time for. Whatever dads would do, anyway. Marceline didn't know how to describe that distinct _Hunson Abadeer as a dad_ thing. She just felt it.

Still, she waited on the answer Bonnibel had on her.

With an affirmative-sounding hum, Bonnibel nodded.

"Sure, your house sounds like a good place to start."

-/-/-/-

The drive, again, was tense, but this time Bonnie was less out of it with Marceline's hand in hers. She still looked like she was stressed enough to want to burn off someone's head with her very glare. She was trying to melt the road, it appeared.

Marceline was just singing some of the songs coming around one of the mixtapes that were on her mix.

"Hey Marceline?"

"Yes?"

"Could you play this instead?" Bonnie said, handing her a disc.

"Mm?"

 _"For Bonnie"_ the disk read. The one she gave her.

Marceline smiled. "Sure, if it'll make you feel better."

"You could make me feel better."

"I'll try for you, as I always do."

That actually made Bonnie smile.

Maybe that really is what counts.

 _/-/-/_

 _"Fuck off," Marceline shouted at a bunch of boys, raising a middle finger. "You don't get to do that to her."_

 _Some boys tried to retaliate, but Marceline got them with a kick. Another approached, but she got him down with one judo move. She was really not going to take any shit from anyone at that point._

 _"This bitch fucking bit me!" a boy said. "It's just a fucking dog, get over it."_

 _"It's a fucking puppy and y'all were trying to fucking kill it!" Marceline screeched. "It deserves a better home than any of you would ever even deserve a fucking girlfriend or whatever." She got to the little poodle puppy and tried to help it out._

 _The boys just left, spitting blood as they got up._

 _The dog looked up at Marceline and weakly licked at her chin._

 _"It's okay, little one. I'm here."_

 _It did a weak little bark._

 _"You're adorable. I'm taking you home. You'll be… Schwabl. How's that sound?"_

 _The dog leapt into Marceline's arms with surprising strength._

 _"Hahahaha, I guess you like it. Come on. Let's go."_

 _She carried her home._

 _Maybe the fact that little wounded things always got to her should bother her._

 _But maybe being some knight when necessary wasn't exactly a bad thing._


	20. Major Scale pt 1

CHAPTER 17 – Major Scale pt 1

"Bonnie, this is it." Marceline said, opening the gates and jumping back into the car to park it inside.

"Didn't expect the place to be so big."

"Dad is kind of a big shot lawyer, you know. Apparently, it paid well."

"Must've been a change when you moved out." Bonnie mumbled. "It was years ago, but still."

"I wanted to stay." Marceline muttered. "But eh, I like it here."

Bonnie whispered. "Oh well, I can't blame you."

Looking across the console, Marceline gave Bonnie a solemn look. Well, this was totally out of character.

"Hey, what's up? Are you okay?"

Bonnibel hummed but she rested a hand to her face. The way she looked was as if she was trying to find some sense of control of her thoughts. To be fair, the morning they had was definitely a doozy at that point and Marceline wasn't sure of the clear direction it was supposed to be taking. Either way, she looked a cross between sad and reluctant.

Putting the vehicle to her designated spot, she rushed to open Bonnie's door; the redhead was looking distant as ever. Marceline was almost scared that opening the door would startle her enough into a heart attack, considering how deep into thought the other girl was in. Regardless, she tapped on the window softly and beckoned for Bonnibel to follow her lead into the house. Either way, Bonnie fumbled to open the door and walked on towards Marceline.

Rummaging through her set of keys for quite some time, Marceline eyed the one to the front door.

"HUZZAH!" she hailed, putting on a huge grin. "Now we can kinda relax in the solace of this lost world."

"Stop sounding so dramatic," Bonnie commented, laughing softly. "It's as if it was a needle in a haystack for you."

Marceline smirked but she proceeded to unlock the door, later on showing Bonnibel the set of keys she was holding. There were labels on every one.

"I make sure everything is here, and they're all arranged in alphabetical order." An undefeated grin took place in lighting up Marceline's whole face. It was really endearing, in a way, that Bonnie couldn't help but smile. Still, the feeling of gloom stayed by a thin layer over everything. Marceline couldn't help but feel the tension so she opened the door and let a soft smile filter through.

"We can talk about anything. It doesn't have to have anything to do with the petition. Just you and me, maybe some coffee?"

"I'm almost half-certain that you're gonna use the latter line in some new song or whatever."

In a sing-song lilt, Marceline faced Bonnibel, making a random sly melody come out.

 _"You can meet me up at heart of the city, we could be a mess but the ruins are pretty, grab some coffee, a table, stay without a label. I'm not sure how this would work so I'm not sure if this is stable."_

"Okay, okay, enough now, Taylor Swift," Bonnie commented, bumping her hip against Marceline's. "Let's just head inside before either of us catch some sort of outside world disease.'

Huffing a tad bit, Marceline opened the door and waved into the mostly empty large space of a home.

"Here we are, Bonnibel. Welcome to my not-so-humble abode." She said by the entrance, making a slightly mocking bow as Bonnie entered the room.

There were hardly much to see on the walls away from a specific theme. There were pictures of Hunson and Marceline by some tourist places, tongues out with deuces out on display, some photos taken away from the state and others obviously from much farther away. There were trophies for some recitals that Marceline performed in, and there were some certificates for excellent performances in various fields. Hunson's own certifications were splayed in large displays, some noting him as an ambassador for a major unit, one being that of some country in relations to Scarborough. None of the displays featured Marceline's mother as if that was the biggest intention that the house had to offer. All Marceline and Hunson, and none for the mother.

Bonnie paused to give occasional glances at every item. Marceline observed her curiously, obviously just waiting on her for them to get anywhere within the household. Preferably in her room where they could just chill out. Either that or they can laze by the couch while filing through the papers they needed to go through. Whatever the case, Bonnie being distracted from everything around her was half-expected, while… not really.

Bonnie trailed her hand down to a photograph of a Marceline from years ago.

It was a picture of a little eight year-old Marcy, holding on to Hambo. Her room just readily made, obviously indicating her recent move to the place. Her smile was bright as she lit up the then bare room that she was standing in.

Marceline, noticing the blank stare that Bonnie was giving the photograph, lightly touched her by the wrist.

"Hey, come on. We can space out in my room. We can just chill." Marceline said, taking Bonnie by the hand, tugging and leading her up into her room.

Fair enough, the redhead followed.

Laying the paperwork by Marceline's desk, Bonnie as slightly amazed with how everything was kind of organized in Marceline's room. The room was neat and it seemed to be readily painted regularly, or at the very least dusted and cleaned enough to not grow any molds. It was a little funny as it seemed so different from the vibe that Marceline normally gave outside of her house. Though to be fair, nobody would find it normal how Bonnie would let molds grow on over in her room while only keeping limited things pristine.

Marceline patted on the other side as she plopped down into her bed. Bonnie settled down on the clean sheets.

"Who cleans the room? It's so pristine. Do you guys keep it like this regularly?" she asked.

Marceline shrugged, leaning her weight on one elbow as she turned to face Bonnibel.

"I fix everything. I got used to cleaning up after everything, and it helps cut away from general people being around in the house." Marceline lay down on her belly. "Also, I have some kind of OCD."

"Understandable," Bonnie mumbled. "Didn't expect that but I guess we can't really judge."

There came a slight tension between the two of them that left things desired to be said.

"So what's on your mind?" Marceline whispered. "You've been out of it since we got out of your house."

Finding her spot on the bed, next to Marceline, Bonnie lay down on her back, proceeding to stare at the other girl as if to contemplate what to say next.

"Can we catch up on everything that's happened through the years?" she mumbled. "I think we'll need a refresher after everything."

Marceline nodded, solemn, still, quiet.

It was going to be a really long day, but she knew it was needed.

All she needed was to spend time with Bonnie, recounting, remembering, speaking and putting pieces together.

Maybe it will make sense that way, anyway.

 _/-/-/_

 _"Schwabl, what's wrong?" Marceline said, crying._

 _The little dog was coughing up blood, as helpless and lethargic. It had marks that were left out of beatings that he had probably endured._

 _"Who did this to you?" Marceline begged, crying. It was as if she expected him to actually speak. She didn't know what to make of it, but she was scared. What kind of monster would hurt such a kind, soft creature?_

 _Her mother came through the room, glaring at the dog._

 _The way she gave the look said so much._

 _Marceline didn't want to believe any of it._


End file.
